A New Way to Bleed
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Clint thawrts an attack against Tony, saving his life. However, in doing so, an old enemy discovers Clint's whereabouts after the archer has managed to hide from them for so long. Unfortunately, this isn't his only surprise as things soon become worse. This title is inspired by a song from Evanescence with the same name. Not a sequel to my other Avengers story, Eleventh Hour.
1. Chapter 1

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter One

The battle in New York was two weeks ago and the scars, both physical and mental, left over from Loki's attack were still fresh, mainly among the Avengers. Unfortunately, there wasn't time for them to rest or to mourn for their losses. Each of them had things to do that could not be held off until they were ready to come back to work.

Seeing as everyone knew that Tony Stark was Iron Man and that he was involved in fighting with the other unknown heroes, he was the one that had become bombarded by the press, all of whom wanted answers to questions such as who had initiated the attack against the city, who were the other mysterious heroes that had fought alongside him, or were the others even heroes?

Tony refused to reveal his friends' identities in order to keep them safe and away from the dark scrutiny that came with consequences of their fight with Loki. Whenever he was confronted with the question of whether or not his friends were his allies, Tony always answered resolutely that his team known as the Avengers were good and devoted to fighting against any evils that would arise against them, knowing that the word of their existence would spread and draw more enemies throughout the universe.

As for the question of who it was that had attacked them, Tony only answered that an alien race had come in hope of taking over the world, as most people expected thanks to books, movies, and television. He continued to tell them that he and the other Avengers were only individuals, who agreed to stand up and fight against the threats, when the people could not. Tony never once mentioned the involvement of S.H.I.E.L.D. or that Loki was the leader of the Chitauri army.

When Tony wasn't busy with press conferences or being interviewed by countless reporters, he spent time working on repairing Stark Tower, with help from Pepper and even Bruce, who had agreed to stick around for a while, not only to help Tony, but also to work on some new research that had come to light since he had first been brought in by Nick Fury.

Thor had gone back to Asgard, taking Loki back with him in order to stand trial, with the promise to soon come back, not only to tell them of Loki's punishment, but also to visit so that they could get to know their new friend from another world, as both Erik Selvig and Jane Foster had done when he had come to Earth once before.

Natasha had left shortly after the battle had ended and headed back to Russia in order to finish her last assignment that she was not able to complete before she had learned that a war was coming and that the one person she cared about more than anyone else in the world, Clint, had been compromised. The only person that ever knew this about her was Coulson, until the Avengers had finally become a team. Her affection for Clint and his for her, though neither one allowed it to be more than just friendship, wasn't lost among Steve, Bruce, and especially Tony, who learned early on not to tease either one of the assassins about it unless he wanted an early funeral.

Finally, both Clint and Steve worked hard to help clean up the streets and ruined buildings throughout the city. Even though Clint didn't wear a mask to hide his identity and Steve's mask had been ripped off half way through the battle, no one recognized either one of them, as they kept a low profile in order to keep becoming known.

Tony Stark as Iron Man, the Hulk, not known to be Bruce Banner, except for the few that knew him and had been chasing after him since he had become the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America were all over the news, but he too was only known as Captain America, not as Steve Rogers. Hawkeye remained mostly unknown, as did the Black Widow, except for the criminal underworld that knew of her reputation, despite that there were a few rumors going around of their superhero personas, which was how they wanted it to be, as they were both spies, whose identities were needed to be kept a secret. S.H.I.E.L.D. helped to protect them and keep anyone who asked about the two most mysterious members of the Avengers from learning anything more about them.

One night, Tony was finally able to convince Steve to join him for a few drinks at a more exclusive club, which he had enjoyed going to for a long time. Bruce had been called away earlier that afternoon to help some others in trying to stop a new disease from spreading anymore among a group of natives down in a small town in Southern Africa, so he couldn't join them.

As the two walked through the halls within Stark Tower, where Steve agreed to meet Tony, Tony spoke up saying, "You're going to love this place, Steve. The drinks are phenomenal and the wings are the best in all of New York City."

Steve smiled as he looked over at Tony while they continued walking and replied, "It sounds good, but the alcohol won't do anything for me. My vamped up metabolism keeps me from getting drunk. I could drink ten beers and not feel a thing. Believe me, I've tried; back in the '40s. I doubt that beer now is any different."

"Good, then you can be the official designated driver," Tony answered. "At least you can still enjoy the buffalo wings. Have you been to see any movies at all since you woke up? There are some good ones coming out and it wouldn't hurt you to do a little reading in order to help you get more up to speed. No offense, but your lack of knowledge on our world now is just sad."

"For your information, Mr. Stark, I have been doing a lot of reading," Steve responded. "We can't all be as smart as you and Dr. Banner."

Tony grinned and then replied, "You're right. I'll always be a hundred times smarter than you and much better looking. I can't help it. It's a gift."

Steve just rolled his eyes and turned his head as they passed by one of the many labs inside the tower, in time for him to notice Clint working silently on some kind of project. As he did, Steve walked slowly into the room, followed by Tony, who was a little more cautious out of fear of the assassin shooting an arrow straight into his heart or getting a dagger in his eye. Truth be told, both Clint and Natasha, especially Natasha, kind of scared the hell out of him, knowing that either one of them could kill him at any time for sneaking up on them, not that he really could, or going too far in annoying and teasing them. Tony really needed to work on that.

Clint surprised both Tony and Steve as he was the first to speak without even turning around, saying, "Evening, Captain; Mr. Stark. JARVIS let me in earlier. I've been working on repairing my bow and arrows and designing a few new ones. I didn't really want to do it back at the base. I hope you don't mind, Tony."

"Not at all," Tony answered as Clint finally turned to look at them. "I told you that you are always welcome here. I know what it's like working around Fury. He's a real piece of work. I'm still not sure where I stand with the guy, but I certainly don't trust him completely. Not sure if I ever will."

"I know what you mean," Steve responded as he looked over at Tony and then to Clint. "Tony and I were just about to go out to have a few drinks and some dinner. Would you like to join us?"

Clint shook his head and replied, "No, thank you. I appreciate the invitation, but I'm not exactly a social drinker. Actually, I'm not a drinker at all. Alcohol doesn't do anything for me, but dull my senses and ability to stay alert; not exactly good traits for a spy and assassin."

Steve answered, "You don't have to drink. You can just join us for a bite to eat. Tony says that the place is private, so you won't have to worry about having attention drawn upon yourself. I'm curious as to how you came to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. That is, if you can tell us."

"I'm not much of a talker unless I'm required to be on a mission, Captain," Clint responded. "I haven't been for a long time. I'm not even sure if I know how to be social for the fun of it anymore."

"We would still like for you to join us," Steve replied sincerely. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Besides, I'm sure Tony will do enough talking for the three of us."

Tony nodded and said, "You got that right. You need to allow yourself to have a little fun every now and again. All work and no play makes Clint here a dull boy. Now, let's get moving. I'm starving."

Clint sat there for another minute as he looked between Steve and Tony, then finally shook his head as he agreed to join them and stood up. He quickly packed his gear back in the bag he had carried in with him and then followed his teammates into the room where Tony parked each of his fancy cars. Like his mansion in Los Angeles, this room had a drive way that led out to the street. Of course Tony drove, as Steve sat in the passenger's seat, while Clint sat in the back. Finally, they were heading out as danger was lurking from the shadows.


	2. Chapter 2

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Two

During the time the three teammates waited for their drinks and food they had had ordered, both Steve and Tony, mostly Tony, were doing a majority of the talking, as both of them expected to. Just as the archer had explained to them, this wasn't the kind of thing he did very often, nor was he entirely comfortable with being there. It wasn't that he didn't want to get to know his newfound friends, aside from reading everything that was to known about them, thanks to his clearance and connections within S.H.I.E.L.D., but socializing with them over beers and chicken wings wasn't how he preferred to do it.

Finally, their orders had arrived and once the waitress left, Tony continued their conversation of how they had each come to be involved saying, "In truth, I wasn't really given an option to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. I was kind of taken hostage by Fury, Coulson, and Miss. Romanoff. I was in a bad place, they blindsided me by giving me a temporary cure to my little heart problem, and then forced me to work for them in exchange for giving me the time I needed to save myself. It's not that I'm not grateful to be alive, but there had to have been an easier way. Your girlfriend, Barton, is a real piece of work."

Clint softly grinned and then responded, "For the last time, Stark, we're only colleagues; nothing more. I've known her for a long time."

"Neither one of us are blind, Legolas," Tony replied cockily. "It's obvious how the two of you feel for each other. I mean, I get that being spies and all makes being involved almost impossible, but there's always a way around it."

"So, we've both shared our stories," Steve spoke up as he could see how uncomfortable Clint was becoming thanks to Tony's unsubtle attempt at being matchmaker. "Is there anything that you'd be willing to share with us, Agent Barton? How long have you been working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Clint hesitated, but in order to be fair, he finally answered, "I've been with them since I was twenty-three. I had my particular skill set and rather than continue to live how I had been, Fury and Coulson took a chance with me. I don't always agree with how Fury handles things either, but I owe him my life, just as I owed Coulson. I can't… I'm sorry. I have to go. Thanks for the food, Tony."

Steve and Tony both knew and understood why Clint left so suddenly. Steve didn't know Coulson for very long, but he quickly came to like the man and Tony had known him for over a year before he died. Both he and Pepper considered the agent a good friend, despite Tony's attempts to pretend not to like him when he had been around. However, Clint had known him longer than anyone, aside from Fury himself, and his teammates could see that the archer still blamed himself for the man's death, as it was his attack on the Helicarrier that caused Loki to be released from his prison in order to finish what he had started. Sadly, Coulson had been one of the many casualties of the God's plan to hit them all where it hurt them the most.

Tony spoke up again as he said, "I certainly didn't expect our conversation to go that way. I know that Natasha has tried, but surely there's some way we can convince him that he isn't at fault. Doesn't he realize none of us blame him for what he did while under Loki's influence?"

"I don't think what any of us says or does to try to prove that will matter much to him," Steve responded as he stared off toward the direction the archer had gone. "He's the kind of guy, who keeps everything close to his chest and well, who holds onto the blame and his guilt for however long he chooses to. In his case, I'd say he probably holds onto it forever. Unfortunately for him, I don't think that the rest of us have done a great job at making it very clear that we don't blame him at all. Until tonight, we've allowed him to keep to himself and never made much of an effort to reach out."

Tony nodded in agreement and then replied, "Well, I'm all done I think. The mood's kind of been killed, so we may as well leave and possibly attempt to make it up to him for our lack of noticing his sadly misplaced demeanor. It's too bad we had to hand Loki back to Thor and to their world. I think a little target practice on the real monster to blame would do Barton some good."

After paying the bill and picking up their leftovers, Tony and Steve walked out of the club and headed back toward the billionaire's car, where he had parked it down an alleyway a few blocks away. The two continued talking amongst themselves as they walked and when they were about to turn a corner, they heard a gasp and suddenly felt the man that the painful sound had come from fall heavily against them, then collapsed down to the ground as they moved to turn around to find out what was going on, only to find an arrow sticking out of the man's back and a dagger on the ground covered partly by the man's hand.

Tony shouted out in shock, "What the hell?"

"I didn't exactly have time to act differently, Stark," Clint answered softly as he swiftly walked down the sidewalk toward them and then knelt down to get a closer look at the man he had just killed as he picked up the knife to hand it up to Steve. "This man was just about to put this dagger in your back. I'd say he's hired help from his uniform and the tattoos he has up and down his arms and the one on the right side of his face. It's a good thing I stayed nearby."

"How did you…?" Tony started to ask.

"I got a sense of someone watching us back when we first left Stark Tower, but I didn't really think much of it until I felt something was wrong once again when I left the club," Clint responded. "We need to…"

Clint suddenly cut himself off and began to listen and observe his surroundings as he stood up, while Steve quickly asked, "What is it, Agent Barton? What's wrong?"

The archer turned back to his friends and began to push Tony forward as he replied, "This guy wasn't alone. You need to get yourself out of here now while I take care of whoever's out there."

"I'm staying here to fight with you if it comes to it," Steve protested. "You'll need my help."

"Well, there's no way I'm leaving," Tony said in agreement as he pushed Clint's hands away from his back.

Clint finally turned to face him and glared at him as he firmly answered, "This guy just tried to kill you, Stark. The rest of these guys are here to try again in case he failed. No offense, but you're not much of a fighter without your suit of armor. Now, get out of here. Captain, you need to make sure he gets back home safe. I can handle them. It's my job."

Steve was about to object again until he was suddenly cut off by one of their attackers as a voice from the shadows spoke up saying, "I'm afraid it's too late for that, Clint."


	3. Chapter 3

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Three

Clint quickly turned to the sound of the almost familiar voice, but it wasn't until Clint, Tony, and Steve were suddenly surrounded by other attackers that the man finally walked out from the shadows wearing a mask over his face. The men surrounding them were also hiding their faces and they were all heavily armed, with their weapons pointed straight at the Avengers, not that they knew who it was they were about to attack, except for Stark.

Before the leader of what to Clint appeared to be a hit squad of some kind spoke again, Clint quickly turned his face toward Steve and so that the others couldn't hear him whispered, "Everyone knows that Stark is a member of the Avengers, but don't give them a reason to believe that you're one of them too. For all we know, it's possible that it's why he's their main target. When you get your chance, the two of you have to go."

The leader spoke up after silently observing the three saying, "I have to say, Clint, I never expected I'd see you again after you nearly killed me over sixteen years ago. You disappeared from off of Marko's radar."

"Barney?" Clint asked in shock as the man before him slowly removed his mask to reveal a slick grin on his face. "But how…? I thought you were dead. There aren't many people who can survive wounds like the ones I gave you."

"Well, I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones then," Barney responded.

Without looking away from their enemy standing before them, Steve spoke up asking, "Who is he, Clint?"

When Clint didn't answer his friend, Barney looked over at Steve and answered for him, "Apparently, my brother doesn't talk about me much. Not that I can blame him. We haven't exactly been close for a long time. Who knew he'd grow up to be friends with the great Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man? Or is it that you were just assigned by whoever it is you're working for to be his bodyguard?"

"If you and your friends are here to kill Stark, you can forget it," Clint said sternly as he ignored his brother's taunt and then cautiously looked around at the rest of the men still surrounding them. "It isn't going to happen, so go back and tell Marko that you failed. Or better yet, come with me and I can help you get away from him. You have been lucky to have survived this long, but someday, he will get you killed. Marko doesn't care about who he tramples on to gain money and power."

"Do you really think that I'm that naïve?" Barney asked in reply as both Steve and Tony scowled at the sad revelation of this man being their friend's brother. "Marko has done well by me and he saved my life, no thanks to you. You may have sharp skills, little brother, but years have passed and I've grown stronger and faster. If I have to kill all three of you to finish what I came here for, then so be it."

As soon as Barney finished talking, Clint suddenly flung two daggers that he had hidden up his sleeves at two of their attackers' chests, killing them instantly, and then used the dagger that their first attacker was about to use to kill Tony, as well as his bow, to fight against Barney, who quickly stepped forward and began to fight him.

Steve quickly pulled Tony aside as one of the men was about to attack the billionaire and then stepped up to fight against several others as they made their moves to attack them as well. Tony managed to help a little, but as he was focused on taking down his second man, another one was about to take a shot at him, until Clint suddenly fired his own gun first, striking the man at the center of his back, after he had turned his attention away from Barney to help his friends. Unfortunately, the distraction gave Barney what he needed to strike out against his brother as he pulled his own knife from his sheath attached to his lower leg and stabbed it through the back of Clint's left shoulder. The attack would have been more lethal if Clint hadn't managed to see the attack coming from out of the corner of his eye. It just wasn't enough to protect himself completely. As the knife cut into him, Clint couldn't help but scream in pain, but he didn't allow it to keep him from doing his job as he continued to fight against their attackers.

When they heard their friend cry out, both Tony and Steve looked over in his direction, but when they saw that he was still fighting, they went back to fighting their own men, who just kept on charging. Steve wasn't worried about himself, but he was for his friends, who were both going to run out of energy before he would if they didn't get away soon. Apparently, Clint had the same thought as he suddenly pulled two of his trick arrows from his quiver, raised his bow and tethered the arrows, and fired them both up into the two large gargoyle statues that stood out from the slightly torn up building above them. Within a second of them hitting their marks the arrows blew up, causing the debris to collapse down on top of their attackers as Clint quickly shoved both Steve and Tony forward and then together the three of them began to run away in order to escape.

Most of the men sent with Barney to kill the three teammates were killed themselves, whether it was from their fight, or it was from the building collapsing on top of them. However, Barney managed to get out from under the falling debris in time to be one of the few survivors. By the time the dust and the smoke had cleared, his brother and their initial target had disappeared, as well as whoever the third guy was that was with them. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to track them, Barney finally decided to head back to where Marko was waiting for him to report that the job had been done.

Meanwhile…

After the three Avengers escaped from their attackers, they quickly ran down the alley to the other side where Tony had parked his car. As Tony sped through the streets in order to get as far away as possible, Clint turned away from the others, then lowered his head as he used his left hand to pinch the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes tightly shut in frustration. He didn't give the pain he felt from the wound in the back of his shoulder a second thought until Steve finally leaned up from the back seat of the car, then placed his hands on the wound and pulled away his torn jacket and shirt in order to get a better look.

Steve solemnly stated, "You've lost a good amount of blood. It looks…"

Clint quickly interrupted, "It's nothing more than a scratch. I promise you, I'm fine."

"This wound is hardly a scratch, Agent Barton," Steve responded as Clint reached up and pushed Steve's hands away. "It's deep and it needs to be taken care of before you lose any more blood and it becomes infected. Are you all right?"

"I'll take care of it once I get back to the base," Clint answered, ignoring Steve's concern. "Stark, I suggest you come too instead of heading back home. I know you've got JARVIS to warn you and help you to keep out invaders, but they'll expect you to go home. They don't know about S.H.I.E.L.D., or at least they don't know of your involvement with them and where the base is. I promise you, they will try again. Believe me."

Tony finally spoke up as he asked, "Who exactly are they and what is with your brother, who I had no idea you had, wanting to kill you? And did he say that you tried to kill him?"

Clint continued to look away from them as he replied, "Marko's a criminal overlord that I once tried to take down before I came to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Obviously, I failed and seeing as he's still around, he's become much stronger and more powerful over the years. Sadly, my brother became involved with him and his thugs a long time ago, despite my attempt to convince him it was wrong. As for what's between my brother and me, it's nothing you need to know about. It won't interfere with what I have to do next."

"What do you mean, with what you have to do next?" Steve asked. "You don't think we're going to allow you to go after him and this, Marko, alone, do you?"

"This isn't your fight," Clint responded somberly. "Fury will want to make this a new mission. I'll use the other agents for back up if I need them."

Tony quickly answered, "Look, I get that you want to keep your private life private, but if you think that I'm not going to do anything after big brother's employer and his cronies just tried to kill me, then you're sorely mistaken. I'm in whether you like it or not."

Steve chuckled and then replied, "I never thought I would ever hear you volunteer for a mission."

"Yeah well, like I said, this one's personal," Tony responded. "We're a team now, remember? Besides, I don't know why, but I like Barton here. I suppose because I feel like we're kindred spirits."

"In what way?" Clint asked as he finally turned to look over at Tony.

Tony answered, "I haven't exactly figured that part out yet either. I'll let you know, or I won't. You'll just have to see."

After a few more minutes of driving in silence, Tony, Steve, and Clint finally arrived back at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base in lower Manhattan. As they did, Clint jumped out and headed off toward one of the conference rooms where he expected to brief Fury on what just happened, as well as to talk with the man about setting up his next mission.

However, before he got too far, Tony quickly called out to him as he shouted, "Hey, Hawkeye! Thank you, you know, for earlier. That was some nice work back there."

Clint just gave a small smile and nodded, then turned to walk away, as Steve spoke up again saying, "You have no intention of staying out of his personal business, do you?"

"Not at all," Tony replied as he kept watching Clint walk away until he finally disappeared and then turned to look back at Steve. "If anyone knows Clint better than anyone, it's Miss. Romanoff. I doubt even Nick knows much about who our friend really is, so I won't be able to find much in his personal files."

"And you really think you're going to be able to get Natasha to tell you anything about him?" Steve asked skeptically.

Tony responded, "Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to try."

Steve laughed as he said, "I think she's knocked you too hard in the head so many times that you've forgotten just how much she can really hurt you."

"Poor choice of words," Tony answered. "You're probably right. Besides, I don't think she's even back from Russia yet. I'll get my information some other way. For now, I suggest we go and find our boy and Fury. I have a feeling this one's going to suck."


	4. Chapter 4

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Four

By the time Tony and Steve had arrived at the base's conference room, Clint was already talking to Fury about the attack and apparently, he was disagreeing with whatever it was that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s one-eyed leader was ordering him to do. The two had been fighting as Steve and Tony could hear raised voices through the door, but as soon as they walked in to join the discussion, the argument quickly came to a halt.

"I'm guessing we interrupted something?" Tony said sarcastically. "Would you like us to come back later?"

"The two of you were just in time," Fury answered, ignoring Tony's banter. "I was just telling Barton that finding out why this Marko hired his gang of thugs to try to assassinate Stark here is a priority, but I'm only going to be sending in Rogers and Miss. Romanoff, who should be arriving back at the base any minute. Seeing as their target is you, Stark, and that Barton here has some kind of past with Marko, which he refuses to share, I'm inclined to refuse to let the two of you anywhere near this."

Clint replied, "Sir, I know how Marko operates and I know his weaknesses. You know that I am the best man for this job."

Steve agreed as he responded, "I think he's right, Director. Besides, if we have any chance of convincing his brother to come back with us and give up working for a traitor, or at the very least, the chance of saving his life, then Agent Barton is probably the only person that can do that."

"His brother?" Fury asked in confusion as Clint lowered his head again in frustration. "What do you mean Barton's brother, Captain?"

"Did he not tell you?" Steve asked as he looked at Fury and then turned to Clint. "You didn't tell him? I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't…"

Clint cut him off as he answered, "It's all right, Captain. I was going to until he had already begun to object to me going along on this mission in the first place. I figured his knowledge about my brother being involved would have only made his objections even more sound. Yes, Director, my older brother is working for Marko and he was there earlier tonight, but that isn't going to change how I do my job. You know better than anyone that I don't allow personal feelings get in the way of my completing a mission. With all due respect to you or any of the others here, I need to do this on my own, or at least let me take some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s other agents. My past is something that needs to stay between you and me. You gave me your word when I agreed to work for you."

Fury looked at him seriously through his good eye and finally replied, "Very well, Agent Barton. You've got yourself a mission, but you will take a group of at least five other agents with you and you must take care of that shoulder before you leave. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Clint responded. "We'll head to Marko's last known whereabouts. In the meantime, see what you can do to find out what he's been up to lately and maybe we'll get something a little more conclusive."

"Will do," Fury answered as Clint was about to leave the room. "Be careful out there, Barton."

Clint nodded and then replied, "I always am."

As soon as Clint left, Tony spoke up again as he asked, "What is with that guy and wanting to keep everything about himself a secret? He's worse than you, Nick."

"He's a spy, Stark," Natasha responded as she walked into the room. "We need to keep our lives a secret so that the right information won't get out to our enemies."

"Are you telling us that the reason why you guys are always so hush hush about everything is because you're worried we'll give your secrets away?" Tony asked again. "I think I know how to keep my mouth shut."

Fury answered, "Actually, I'm not so sure that you can, Stark. You've certainly been more than open with the public about who you are. It's one of the reasons why your attackers tonight are trying to kill you and how they knew exactly where to find you."

Steve nodded in agreement and then replied, "No offense, Tony, but Fury's right. However, I know that he would never give away sensitive information that would compromise Agent Barton or any of the rest of us, Director."

"It isn't just because of that," Natasha spoke up again. "Like the rest of us, Clint has done some things that he's not proud of and can't let go. He agreed to come to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. because all he's wanted was a place to belong and is afraid that his past will not only ruin that for him, but that it will put the people he cares about in danger. He's trying to protect us more than anything else."

"All right then," Steve responded. "That's good enough for me. Can you at least allow us to help track down Marko for him, Director?"

Fury answered, "All you had to do was ask. Good luck!"

As Fury left the room, Tony asked mockingly, "Did Fury just pass the buck onto us?"

"It appears that way, but he actually just went off to brief Agent Hill on what's going on," Natasha replied. "Then, he has to go and talk with the counsel. In order for them to agree to give him back his position as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, he's required to brief them on every decision he makes now. If he doesn't, he'll be history."

"Wouldn't that be interesting?" Tony stated. "I'm still pissed off that I can't join Barton in taking down the men that tried to kill me. I take things like that very personally."

Steve responded, "They tried to kill all three of us, Stark. It wasn't just you."

Tony retorted, "Yes, but it wasn't you they were initially after. At the very least I would like to confront the man and punch him in the face while wearing my armor. Why is it that people threaten us and we're never given the chance to see justice done? Our opportunities are always stolen from us."

As Tony kept whining, Natasha walked out of the room and headed off toward the base's roof, where she knew that Clint would be right then. Ever since things had finally died down after Loki's attack, the roof tended to be where he spent most of his time when he wasn't busy with everything else. Each of his teammates knew that he wasn't comfortable staying inside the base where a lot of the scientists and some of the agents still blamed him, as he did himself, for his actions while under the God's influence, despite that they knew he wasn't really at fault. So, when he was there and had nothing to do, the Hawk spent his time on the roof to observe his surroundings and the comings and goings of the people that worked for the agency.

When she finally made it up there, Natasha watched for a few moments as Clint was working on cleaning and bandaging up the wound in his shoulder, which until now she knew nothing about. Within a minute, she was sitting down on the edge beside him and then carefully took over for him, as he allowed her to do so.

"They didn't tell me you had gotten injured in your fight and from the looks of the wound, I can see that it could have been a lot worse if it weren't for your skills," Natasha said softly. "I'm guessing that you had to save yourself while protecting Stark and Rogers?"

"They both held their own, especially Steve, as you would expect, him being a super soldier and everything," Clint answered as he looked back at her while she worked. "He would have been better, but I told him not to give himself away as Captain America. I have no idea if Marko targeted Tony because he was Iron Man or for some other reason. I wasn't about to take that chance."

Natasha nodded and then asked, "Your brother was there, wasn't he?"

Clint only turned his head forward again and lowered it as he began to look down below him, then after a minute replied, "I thought he was dead all this time. I thought that I killed him. I knew our relationship was strained after what happened between me and our old mentor, but… I never thought he would come to hate me so much that he'd do everything to try to kill me. He isn't Barney anymore."

"Let me come with you, Clint," she pleaded as she finally finished and then used her hand to turn his head back around so that he would look at her. "You shouldn't have to do this alone. I already know what you won't share with anyone else. You don't have to protect me from them and you especially to do not have to protect me from yourself. I like you for everything that you are. I owe you a debt that I can never repay. I owe you my life."

"Which is why I can't let you help me this time," Clint responded angrily as he pulled away from her and stood up. "Because if you do, there's a good chance that that is exactly what will happen. There's a good chance that you'll be killed and I won't let that happen. Not to any of you. This is my fight."

Natasha tried to call out to him as he swiftly walked away and left to finish getting ready to leave. She started to follow after him, but realized it wasn't going to do him any good. So instead, she walked toward the base's main room where Fury was no doubt still talking with Maria Hill and the other agents to work on figuring out as much information as they could gather on Marko. If Natasha couldn't help Clint in the field, then she would be sure to learn everything that S.H.I.E.L.D. could find on the overlord in order to know what Clint was walking into. She would protect him any way she could, whether he wanted her to or not.


	5. Chapter 5

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Five

When Barney and the rest of the men that had survived the fight against the three Avengers arrived back at the pent house where their boss was now living, Barney quickly ordered his men to go and get cleaned up, while he headed to Marko's study, knowing that that was where the man was waiting for him to give him the confirmation that Tony Stark was now dead.

Marko was a powerful man and had been for a long time. When his life had fallen apart after he parted ways from his brother, Barney had nothing, but then he met Marko after a few months of living on the streets. Marko watched Barney one day as he fought a couple of street thugs and had become very impressed at his fighting abilities. Marko gave him an opportunity to join him and his criminal enterprise that he had built up over the years and since then, Barney himself has become stronger and well respected by everyone in their company, including Marco. He was grateful to Marko and was willing to do whatever it took to keep that respect, but today, he had failed and knew that Marko wasn't going to be happy. However, Barney also knew that his boss would be interest to learn why he had failed.

Barney lightly knocked on the door to the study and waited for Marko to answer. When Marko called out to him and told him to come in, he looked up at the younger man while he remained sitting in his chair behind his desk and he could see from Barney's face that the job had not been completed.

His face became hard as Marko spoke up first saying, "I realize that Tony Stark is a member of these mysterious Avengers that have been plastered all over the news for the last few weeks since the big alien invasion, but without all that metal armor he wears when he fights, he is nothing but a weak man, who has been a thorn in my side since I came here to New York City to build up my company. He should have been no problem for you, Barton. So what happened?"

Barney lowered his head in shame and then raised it back up to look his boss and friend in his eyes as he answered, "Stark wasn't alone tonight as I expected him to be, Sir. I thought he was scheduled to meet with one of the CEO's at Stark Enterprises, but apparently he cancelled and decided to go out clubbing instead. He was with two other people, who protected him when my man's first attack failed and then again when we all failed. Whether or not the other two were his friends or if they were just his bodyguards, I don't know, but they were highly skilled. I am not sure who the other was, but you will be interested to know that one of them was; my brother; Clint."

"Your brother was with Stark tonight?" Marko asked in surprise as he no longer cared that Barney lost the fight. "And you fought him? Is he the reason why you failed?"

"Clint was the one that killed my man that I had sneak up on Stark to kill him," Barney replied. "If you're asking if I failed because of sentimentality, you're wrong. I hate him for what he did to me. Clint is even more skilled than he ever was before. He still fights with a bow and arrow like he did when he worked with Trickshot and the Swordsman and he's excellent with other weapons as well. However, his arrows were not just any arrows and his quiver was unique too. Some of the arrows explode. He used one of them so that he and the others could escape, but not before I put a knife into his shoulder when he tried to protect Stark. He appears to be very loyal to him and the other one."

Marko turned in his chair and began to stare off at nothing as if he was thinking about some memory, then asked, "I am assuming you revealed yourself to him as you fought?"

Barney nodded and responded, "I wanted him to know who I was. I am sorry if I was wrong to do so, but my brother nearly killed me. He deserves to suffer knowing that he made me what I am today."

"And rightly so," Marko agreed as he turned back around and faced the younger man. "No doubt, Clint will come after you in order to stop me once and for all. If I know him at all, he will shut himself off from any kind of relationship or partnership and disappear to find us on his own, without any help. When he does, I want him captured."

"I thought you wanted my brother dead like I do," Barney asked in confusion. "I don't understand what the point of taking him alive is. It won't be easy to do."

Marko answered angrily, "You do whatever it takes. Exploit his weaknesses. Attack him with everything that we have. I don't care if the rest of the men that work for me have to die. You will take him alive and bring him to me. Do I make myself clear?"

Barney nodded as he replied, "Yes, Sir, but what about Stark? Now that he knows that someone out there is trying to kill him, he will be on alert and will not likely be going anywhere that we can get a shot at him. His tower is impossible to invade unless we had more experts on our side."

"Whether Clint and Stark are friends, or your brother is Stark's bodyguard, after tonight I would think that the billionaire, no matter how self-centered he appears, would do anything to save his life in order to repay him for saving his," Marko responded. "We will use Clint to lure the man out, without his armor, and when he comes, I will make him wish that he never crossed me."

"And if this works; if we are successful, what do you plan for Clint when we're done?" Barney asked coldly.

Marko answered as he smiled, "In the next few days, you will be able to do whatever you want with him as a reward for helping me. If you do this, you will no longer just be my best fighter and hired thug, but I will make you my partner as you have wanted for a long time now. How does that sound?"

Barney smugly replied, "It's what I've been waiting to hear."


	6. Chapter 6

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Six

While Fury, Maria Hill, and the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were concentrating all their efforts on finding Marko and Clint's brother, Barney, Tony had become restless and tired of waiting for results that would most likely be outdated information. However, he knew that Natasha would make sure that the agents would do their job to help Clint, so there nothing more for him to do, but work on snooping around his teammate's past, hoping to find something that might help him help Clint.

Tony knew everything there was to know about Steve, Bruce, and even Thor, but he knew nothing about either of the assassins, which was understandable, but now that they were members of the Avengers and may end up getting more attention than what was safe for them, Tony strongly felt it was important for him to learn more about them in case more of their past enemies should surface, like what is happening now. He liked Clint, despite the archer's tendency to remain more closed off than everyone else by far, even Natasha as well, now that he realized he could trust her, and in truth, which was why he needed to do what he was about to do.

"JARVIS, I need you to search for any and all records for Agent Barton going as far back as you can find, that is if you can find any," Tony called out to his A.I. after taking a seat in a private room where he wouldn't be disturbed by anyone.

"Sir, are you certain that you want to invade your new colleague's privacy like this?" JARVIS asked.

Tony responded frustratingly, "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't, J. It's for his own good and mine. Now please, just do as I ask."

After a few minutes of searching, while Tony leaned back in his chair and thought back to their fight earlier that evening, JARVIS finally spoke again as he said, "Sir, I am afraid that the only record of Agent Barton ends when he turns thirteen years old."

"Thirteen; why is that?" Tony asks. "Did he begin his spy training that young?"

"Uncertain, but all traces and records of Agent Barton are non-existent from that point on," JARVIS answered. "Before then, records show that Barton's father was an alcoholic, who beat his wife and his children, and eventually got himself and his wife killed in a car accident when Barton was only seven years old. Both he and his brother, Barney, were sent to live in an orphanage until they ran away six years later. That is when all records of him stop."

Tony contemplated what his A.I. had told him and then stated, "Surely, as he's now a master assassin, he should have some kind of criminal record. We all know that neither he nor Miss. Romanoff were always on the straight and narrow."

JARVIS replied, "There is nothing that comes up, Sir. Director Fury must have erased all traces of his past in order to protect his identity.

"Unless, Nick has Agent Barton's and Romanoff's records on a private server that is locked away in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands," Tony responded. "I won't be learning anymore unless I can get the information from either Natasha or Clint himself and I don't see that happening."

"You are about to be interrupted, Sir," JARIVS said when the door was suddenly forced opened and Steve walked into the room with one of the agency's computers in his hands, as Tony quickly cleared the monitors that had Clint's file up, even though he knew that Steve had already seen. "I thought you had locked the door so that no one could get in to see what you are doing."

Tony answered, "Yeah, I did, but you can't exactly stop a man from coming in, who has the strength to pull the door off its hinges. You know you could have just knocked, Cap."

Steve smiled as he replied, "I could have, but seeing as you're up to no good, as I expected that you were, I doubted you would have let me in. Did you find out anything that might help us in helping Clint?"

"Unfortunately no," Tony responded. "There's only record of Clint and his brother being orphaned at an early age and then that they ran away by the time he was thirteen. That's it. What about you guys? Any luck with tracking down whoever this Marko guy is?"

"Actually yes," Steve answered as he handed Tony the computer with the man's photo up and records up. "It wasn't easy to find, but it appears that our man has gone by several names in order to build up his empire in a number of cities throughout the world, the latest city being right here. We're still working on locating his known headquarters."

As Tony stared at the screen, he angrily replied, "Don't bother. I know who he is, only I know him by Dane Maaco. He's been working on taking over Stark Enterprises by trying to buy more than half of my company's shares, as well as several of the shareholders by either paying them off or by blackmailing them. I don't worry about him succeeding because I always have a few tricks up my sleeves to stop him, especially since Stark Enterprises started with my father. A majority of the board members would never allow someone else to take it over and force me out."

Steve responded, "It looks like you and Barton have a common enemy. This probably explains why he would send several of his hit men to kill you, in order to get you out of the way for good. Clint's brother obviously didn't expect us to be there with you tonight, nor did he expect to see Clint again. Him stepping in to save you put his life in jeopardy and brought him out of hiding. Now, Marko will do anything to try to stop him too and so will his brother. We need to go after him, despite what he and Fury told us, and we need to talk to Miss. Romanoff."

"I agree," Tony answered and then was about to speak again until JARVIS interrupted.

"Sir, you have a call," the A.I. said. "It is Dane Maaco on the line and he says it is rather urgent. It is in regards to Agent Barton."

Tony looked at Steve and then quickly replied, "Put it up on the screen, JARVIS, but make it only a one way view."

JARVIS did so and when Marko's image appeared on the screen, Tony spoke up saying, "Maaco, for what do I owe the pleasure of your call this late, or should I say early, seeing as it is after two o'clock in the morning?"

"I knew that you would be awake, Tony, especially after what happened to you tonight," Marko responded smugly. "I expect that you know by now that it was me that sent those men to kill you. What I wasn't expecting, however, is that Clint Barton would be in your company tonight. I lost track of him a long time ago."

"What is it that you want aside from me dead, Maaco, or should I say Marko?" Tony asked as he and Steve watch the man on the screen as he just sat in front of the computer monitor with a smug look on his face.

Marko answered, "I know that you know that your friend Barton and I have a past. The question is, how much do you know and what are you willing to do in order to protect your bodyguard, the way he protected you against my men? You are an Avenger, so you are obviously working for someone with a great deal of power and influence, which is how I knew that you would know who I really am and that it was me that wants you dead. Clint wouldn't have told you anything, seeing as he is the kind of guy, who doesn't share anything personal with anyone and is a social outcast. It's why I suspect he is nothing more than just a bodyguard to you."

Tony wanted nothing more than to knock that smug look off the man's face, but didn't let on how angry he was becoming as he replied, "Surprisingly, he and I get along just great. We even go out to bars together, which I am sure you know, since most of your men were killed tonight by Barton. Surely his brother sold him out, didn't he?"

"Yes, Clint and Barney have a very complex relationship," Marko said again.

"I'm getting tired of this conversation, Marko," Tony responded. "I know that you didn't call me just to brag or to talk about a family relationship gone bad. What is it you really want to tell me? What about Barton?"

Marko answered smoothly, "My men, including his brother, have captured your bodyguard and killed the rest of the men that were coming with him to find me. Call him if you don't believe me. Try calling the rest of them. I knew that he would come after me and try to convince his brother to stop living the life he has chosen. So I set a trap for him. If you want him back, if you care at all to save the life of the man that risked coming out of hiding to save you, then you will come to me at my penthouse alone and not as Iron Man; your life for his. If you don't, we will kill him. Will you be able to live with yourself, Tony?"

When he finished talking, Marko hung up, then Steve turned to Tony and finally spoke up again saying, "You know you can't go on your own, Stark, especially not without your armor to protect you. We'll find a way to get Agent Barton back. It's not like we don't know where Marko is."

"Yes, but we don't know where Barton is being held," Tony replied angrily. "I'm going and you're not going to stop me."


	7. Chapter 7

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Seven

Meanwhile…

Clint and the rest of the agents Fury had assigned to watch his best agent's back had taken one of the Quinjets and flew to what Clint remembered to be Marko's last known location, a large office building in Chicago, Illinois. However, after ordering the agents to remain behind on the roof of the building adjacent to Marko's, where he had set the jet down, Hawkeye, as he made his way through the building to scout out for threats and possible whereabouts for Marko and his brother, found nothing aside from whatever the normal that was being done by Marko's many employees.

The archer didn't like that Marko had established his dirty businesses in several cities globally, but doing anything to stop whatever illegal activities that were taking place here now would be nothing but a waste of time and effort. The only way to stop his men and the work they were doing behind the fronts they had built up to hide what they were really doing, would be to take down Marko himself once and for all.

So, as he began to make his way back up to the roof of the building, to where he had attached a zip line in order to get from the building across from him to the building he was currently standing on, Hawkeye finally radioed in to his team to let them know he was heading back to them. However, when he didn't receive an answer, he knew right away that something wasn't right and began to run in order to make his way up faster. Those that saw him inside the building either just stared at him, confused as to why he was there, or they simply ignored him.

When he finally arrived back up, Clint saw that the jet appeared to be fine, as well as the rest of the agents, who were all busy keeping watch for any potential threat. However, the coms he and the others wore to keep in touch were still not functioning, as he had tried several times to reach them, so he made his way back to the edge of the roof and was about to shoot his grappling arrow after setting his quiver to attach the head, when suddenly a large blast erupted on the other building, causing the Quinjet to blow.

Clint was too far away to be physically affected by the blast's radius, but as it occurred, Hawkeye swiftly put up his arm for protection and knelt low to the ground as a reflex. When the explosion quickly died down and nothing but flames surrounded what little was left of the jet, Hawkeye looked at it in shock and anger, knowing that the blast had no doubt successfully killed all of the men with him.

"You've already managed to tick off one of the Avengers when you attempted to have him killed by your group of assassins," Clint suddenly spoke up as he sensed someone walking up on him from behind, knowing full well that it was Barney without even having to turn around. "Now, once S.H.I.E.L.D. discovers that you just killed several of its agents and blew up one of their jets, they'll come after you with full force. Not very smart of you."

"Truly, little brother, I'm impressed," Barney replied and then stopped moving forward when Clint finally turned around to face him, without lowering his bow. "Your senses are sharper than they ever were and so are your fighting skills, as I told you before. I'm clearly outmatched. Now that I know you're working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and not Stark, I can't say I'm surprised. They only recruit the best."

Clint ignored him and continued, "You knew I'd be here, as it was Marko's last known whereabouts and the same place Trickshot and I tried to take him down years ago, so you set up a trap, starting with knocking out our communications. Then, all you had to do was get rid of the men that I had come with and destroy my way out of here. You planted a bomb once I left without the others noticing. I'm not the only one who's skilled."

Barney responded angrily, "You mean this was the same place you nearly killed me! You put an arrow through my chest! Does it even bother you at all?"

"Every day," Clint answered sadly as he discreetly pushed a button on the handle of his bow without his brother noticing, causing his quiver to activate one of his arrow heads. "If I had known that you were working for Marko, I never would have agreed to rob him and I surely never would have shot you. You know that. I would have gone to you to try to convince you that you were making a huge mistake working for that man. Maybe if I had, then we wouldn't be here now; like this. I can't change what's happened, but I can still help you, Barney. Don't let this get any uglier than it already is."

"I think you and I both know it's too late for all that," Barney replied arrogantly. "I'm here with a proposition, or for a fight, in case you refuse to cooperate. Marko wants me to bring you in alive so..."

Clint interrupted, "Let me guess, so that he can torture me to death to repay me for setting him back all those years ago? If you think that I'm going to make this easy for you, you're crazier than I thought. I won't kill you, but I will defend myself against you long enough for me to get away. You said it yourself, Barney. I'm a better fighter than you."

Barney responded, "We both knew you'd say that, which is why we have a contingency plan. Tony Stark, the almighty Avenger, is about to fall into another trap of his own. You see, Marko spoke to him and told him that we already had you. If he doesn't come alone and without his armor, then he said we'd kill you. If the man isn't as full of himself as he appears, we probably already have him by now; a life for a life. What do you say now, Clint?"

"Not what you're expecting," Clint answered as he suddenly raised his bow toward the satellite dish behind Barney at the same time as pulling his ready-made arrow from his quiver and tethering it, then quickly released it, hitting the dish dead center, all before Barney could register what was happening.

As soon as he let his arrow fly, Clint swiftly ran toward his brother while he was distracted and when the arrow exploded a few seconds later, Clint managed to tackle him to the ground and pulled him out from under the blast, using his own body to protect him from the flying debris.

Clint moved to sit up part way while he continued to hold Barney down against the ground using his arm and knee for support and then spoke up as he said roughly, "I'll give myself up, but only to Marko and only when I've confirmed that you have Stark. Tell your boss when you wake up that he better not harm him in any way, or I will put an arrow through his eye socket and then through whatever it is beating inside his chest. We'll be in touch."

As soon as he said this, Clint smashed his fist hard enough against Barney's head to knock him unconscious. After doing so, he loosened his grip on his brother, but didn't get up right away. Instead, he angrily punched his right fist against the ground to let off his frustration and anger, then closed his eyes and lowered his head down to his chest as he felt shame and a stronger sense of hatred for himself, stronger than anything he had felt before.

After staying this way for a few minutes, Clint finally lifted his head and stood up over his brother. He walked over closer to the rubble caused by his own explosion and leaned down to pick up what was left of his arrow shaft, then without looking back, he walked away, knowing that an even worse encounter with his brother was coming.

Even though he knew deep down that what Natasha and the rest of the Avengers had told him about how he wasn't at fault for what he had done while being influenced by the tesseract was true, Clint still couldn't let it go, as hundreds of people died because of his actions, including Coulson, and he had nightmares every time he attempted to sleep to remind him of it. This time, it truly was his fault. This was his fight. More agents were dead and now another friend was about to get hurt again because of him. Clint was done pretending to be an Avenger; pretending to be a hero.


	8. Chapter 8

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Eight

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base…

Tony strode out of the base's doors that led to the garage where he had parked one of his many fancy cars he had been driving that night, followed closely by Steve, who was trying to convince Tony that handing himself over to Marko was a mistake, especially if he planned on going in alone.

"What else do you expect me to do, Captain?" Tony spoke angrily as he stopped short and turned around to stare at the team leader. Without knowing where Clint is being held, we can't just let S.H.I.E.L.D. charge in blindly in hope of taking Marko and every one of his men down. They'll kill Hawkeye for sure that way. Don't worry though, I'm not one for being totally self- sacrificial either. You didn't think I didn't have a plan, did you?"

"You've got a plan?" Steve asked. "I'd love to hear it."

Tony smiled and then answered smugly, "I said I was never planning on telling Fury about my little conversation with Marko. I never did try to stop you from following me out here though, did I?"

Steve looked at Stark as he responded, "You want me to follow after you."

"Yes, but as Captain America," Tony replied. "Go find Miss. Romanoff and ask her to join you too. We'll need the Avengers for this, not S.H.I.E.L.D. I'll go ahead and surrender myself to Marko like he wants, while you and Black Widow come after me and wait for my signal to barge in. I'll have JARVIS tracking me so that he'll be able to relay my whereabouts back to you. You'll be tuned in to the confrontation, the whole time. However, if you hear that they're going to put a bullet between my eyes the second I walk through their door, please do something to distract them. Oh, and you also have one of my back up suits with you as well so that when the fighting starts, I won't be so exposed. JARVIS can get it to me very quickly if need be."

"You've got this pretty well thought out, Stark," Steve answered. "I have to say, I'm impressed."

Tony cockily responded, "Coming from you, old man, that doesn't really mean a whole lot, but thanks. Now go and find Natasha. She'd kill us both if we went to rescue the Hawk without her. I think I fear her more than the Hulk."

Steve looked past Tony and began to stare out toward the city as he somberly replied, "You're going in there without knowing for sure that Clint really has been captured. He's one of the best fighters either of us has ever seen. You and I both know it would take a lot to bring him down, just as it would the rest of us. What if we're wrong?"

"Cap, I have the same concerns as you, but we don't have a choice," Tony answered as he finally jumped into the driver's seat of his car without opening the door and then started the engine. "But I've tried getting a hold of Barton over his radio frequency and neither he, nor his back up are answering. I owe him for saving my life tonight and so do you. He saved yours too if I'm not mistaken?"

"You're right," Steve responded firmly. "I do owe him. Let's get going then. Be careful, Tony and try not to piss them off any more than you already have. Who knows what Marko will do to you?"

Tony replied, "Your concern for my welfare is touching. Just try to keep up and don't alert Fury or Hill to what we're doing."

As Tony sped off toward Marko's headquarters, Steve quickly raced through the base as he called out to JARVIS asking, "JARVIS, do you have a signal locked on Stark?"

"I do, Captain," the A.I. answered. "As were Mr. Stark's orders. I also have a signal locked on your com and one for Miss. Romanoff as well for when you find her."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Steve responded. "I'm not really one for all of today's technology, but I've got to say, you're real handy to have around."

"Thank you, Sir," JARVIS replied again.

A few minutes later, after Steve had changed into his suit, he finally found Natasha sparring alone inside a gym S.H.I.E.L.D. had made a room for so that their agents could be train while not on missions. He noticed she was no longer wearing the outfit she was wearing earlier after returning from her previous mission to Russia. Instead, she was now in her suit, including her weapon of choice, her gauntlet, fully prepared for a fight.

Before he could say anything, Natasha spoke up first, again without even turning around, saying, "Is it finally time to go?"

Steve moved to stand beside her and asked, "How do you and Agent Barton do that? I know how to fight, but I have no idea how the two of you have managed to heighten all your senses like you have. It's impressive. You knew we've been planning something?"

"I knew that neither of you or Stark would just sit back and wait for Fury to come up with a plan of attack," she answered as she and Steve walked toward the garage once again. "I also know that Clint's in trouble. Has he been compromised?"

"We believe so, but we don't know for sure," the leader responded as he handed Natasha her own com. "We can't get in contact with either him or his team and Tony received a call from Marko himself saying that he had his men capture Barton. I know that he can take care of himself, but neither Tony nor I are willing to do nothing like you said. Tony's on his way right now to turn himself in to Marko, as to the man's demands. JARVIS has a lock on him. We're going to break in once Tony gives us some kind of signal, or if he manages to tick them off enough to get them to want to kill him."

Natasha replied, "Knowing Tony, that won't take very long."

Steve was about to say something again until Natasha's phone suddenly rang and as soon as she noticed that the number was unknown, she knew who it had to be as she quickly answered, "Clint?"

Meanwhile…

Clint was now in the air not too long after his fight with his brother. Since Barney had blown up the Quinjet, Clint was forced to find another way back to New York City. He had first stolen a car that was parked nearby the office building in order to get to the Marine base there in Chicago, where he was hoping to get himself a faster ride.

Once he arrived, Clint asked the soldiers that approached him to get Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes on the phone, whom he asked to borrow one of their jets. At first Rhodes thought this man was crazy, until Clint suddenly stated that he was one of the Avengers, known very little as Hawkeye, along with Tony, since he had no doubt that Tony had talked to him about the team of heroes, and that Stark was in trouble. As Rhodes was still based in California, he knew there was no choice but to trust Hawkeye and give him access to one of the jets there at the base and he finally agreed.

After getting up to speed and finally settling in for the flight, Clint tuned into the radio to find one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s frequencies and when one of the techs answered, he ordered him to patch him through to Natasha's cell. The man was hesitant to listen at first, but finally did as Clint had asked, then Clint waited for her to pick up.

As he heard her quickly mention his name when she answered, Clint spoke up saying, "Listen to me, Nat. I can't talk long. You need to find Stark and tell him not to go wherever it is Marko told him to go."

"_He's already on his way and without his armor, but we're right behind him,_" she responded, noticing the pain and weariness in his voice."_Are you all right? Marko told Tony he had captured you and that he was willing to trade you in exchange for him. That's why he's there._"

"I know," Clint replied angrily. "I'm fine. Call Stark and tell him to fall back. You're all about to walk into a trap."

"_It's too late,_" Natasha answered quickly. "_He's walking into the building now, already surrounded by Marko's guards. JARVIS has a lock on him and we've got an open com so we can hear what's happening. We'll be…_"

Clint interrupted her, "Marko's smart, Natasha. He'll have planned for Stark to try to pull something on him. It's too late. If you can, try to help him, but be careful. I'll be there as soon as I can. JARVIS, can you hear me?"

Tony's A.I. came over the line as he responded, "_Yes, Sir, I can hear you._"

"I need you to patch me into the line that Marko called Tony from earlier," Clint replied. "Can you do that?"

"_I'm doing it now for you, Sir_," JARVIS answered.

While the A.I. was working on getting a hold of Marko for him, Clint called out again to Natasha again and said, "Captain, Nat, I'm not sure what's about to happen, but I need you and the others to be careful and take care of each other. If you lose contact with Stark, I promise you, I will find him and I will save him. I'll stop Marko and my brother once and for all. Be sure that Barney is taken care of. I'm sorry for anything I might have done to hurt you in the past and for what I'm about to do now. Goodbye, Natasha. I do love you and I always will."


	9. Chapter 9

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Nine

As soon as Clint finished telling Natasha that he loved her, she heard a click, indicating that he had signed off, but she couldn't help but cry out, "Clint? Clint! Damn it!"

Steve looked over at her as she frantically, angrily, kept trying to get Clint back on the radio, then finally spoke up as he asked, "When he said goodbye, he didn't mean what I think he meant, did he?"

"He meant one of two things," Natasha answered. "Either, when whatever's about to happen is finished he's planning on disappearing for good, or Clint doesn't believe he's going to survive this fight; whatever's coming. We never should have agreed to let Thor take Loki back to Asgard. It's his fault that Clint has lost confidence in himself. At the very least we deserve to see that monster's punishment if just to gain some kind of closure. Clint's been having nightmares. He won't show how much pain he's in and he won't talk about it, but I know; I know him."

"I'm sorry, Tasha," Steve replied. "I guess I just assumed everything was fine after our battle with Loki that I didn't think to ask him if he was all right after it was all over. I didn't think about the how being mind-controlled and forced to kill the people he cared about would affect him."

Natasha continued to stare ahead as she finally stopped the car a few blocks from the building where Tony had entered and then responded, "This doesn't matter right now. We've got more important matters to…"

Suddenly JARVIS interrupted over their coms saying, "I'm sorry for the interruption, Ma'am, but I'm afraid that something has affected my systems. Yours and Captain America's coms appear to be functioning normally, but I can no longer hear Stark and the other men he was speaking with moments ago, nor can I continue to track him. We have been cut off. I am not sure what has happened, but someone within that building has does something to make sure we are no longer in communication."

"Stark, can you hear me?" Steve called out, despite knowing that he wouldn't answer. "Stark, answer me! Stark?"

"Clint was right," Natasha answered as she and Steve got out of the car and began to run toward the building. "They were expecting Stark to have some form of communication with us and we mistakenly thought that we would get away with this. We need to get inside and find him fast before they can disappear altogether."

Inside Marko's headquarters…

As soon as Tony walked inside the main lobby, cautiously and fully aware of his surroundings, he noticed three men walk toward him. Within a minute the men surrounded him without saying a word and began to escort him up to wherever Marko was waiting for him. Tony tried to make conversation with them, mostly by cracking jokes about them, but still, not a sound was made by any of them.

Tony spoke up again saying, "The three of you really are debbie downers. You're like machines that have no mind of your own. Is blindly and obediently following your boss' orders all you can do?"

When they continued to ignore him, as they entered into the elevator, Tony finally gave up trying to get a rise out of them and began to listen in on the conversation going on between Natasha and Clint through his com. It was then that he discovered that he had fallen for Marko's bluff. He didn't have Barton after all and it made him mad that he had been so quick to think that someone with the assassin's skills could be so easily caught.

As the conversation continued, Tony didn't seem to care when Clint mentioned that he was in more trouble than he originally had anticipated, but as he listened to Clint after he began to talk to his A.I. in order to get patched through to Marko over the same line he had spoken with the bad guy earlier, then heard him tell Natasha goodbye, Tony realized that the archer was going to do everything in his power to rescue him, even if it meant that he would sacrifice himself to do it.

One of the men behind him finally spoke up as he said, "We're just about there, Mr. Stark. Our boss is anxious to meet you."

"Actually, fellas, I think I'm going to have to pass," Tony quickly replied just as the elevator finally stopped up on the top floor, which led to the penthouse that served as Marko's office. "I just realized I forgot to turn off my car's engine. I really don't want to wear out the battery so I'm going to…"

"I think that you can afford to buy a new one or even a brand new car if you wanted one, Tony," Marko responded snidely as Tony and Marko's thugs walked further into the room. "It's good to see you again."

Tony was suddenly shoved forward, then pushed down into a chair in front of the man's desk and Tony sarcastically answered, "The feeling's mutual. So, where's Barton? You do have him, right?"

As he continued to sit in his chair while smoking on a cigar, Marko replied, "You already know that I don't. You're not a very hard man to read, Mr. Stark. I have to say that I'm surprised you were actually foolish enough to believe that I had him, a skilled assassin such as he is."

"Yeah well, what can I say?" Tony responded. "I'm not always as smart when it comes to my many acquaintances as I am with one of my many science projects."

"Don't worry," Marko continued. "If there's one thing that I remember about Clint Barton, it's that he'll do whatever it takes to protect someone he cares about, even if it means death. He'll be here soon enough to try to rescue you. Your friends, the Avengers, whom I'm sure you have some of here with you, won't be able to help you. All communications you may have had with them have been cut off ever since you arrived here in my office and in just a few minutes, we'll be on our way to somewhere that they won't be able to track you."

As Tony was pulled up from the chair and once again pushed forward by the men in order to get him to follow after Marko, who had finally stood and moved into the elevator, Tony answered, "Maybe. You're probably right, but I wouldn't count them out just yet. And if you think you can take down Barton as easily as you seem to think so, you're the one who's the fool. I've seen the man in action. He'll cut you down before you can even say, 'curse you, Tony Stark' and he doesn't just have the brawn either. He's smart too."

Marko laughed and then smugly replied, "You're right, Tony, but I have one advantage over him. I've got his brother on my side, who's almost as equally skilled, and even if Clint is stronger and faster, he won't be able to do whatever it takes to stop him. He doesn't have the guts. His brother will be this assassin's downfall. In the end, I will end up with Stark Enterprises and both you and Agent Barton will be dead."

Tony knew that what Marko was saying was true. Clint never would be able to kill his own brother, whom Tony knew would have no problem with killing Clint if roles become reversed. Tony silently cursed himself for falling for Marko's lies. He had come thinking he needed to save his friend, but in the end, the archer was once again going to come to try to rescue him.

Tony also knew that his tracking beacon and communication line through JARVIS to the others was down, as he hadn't heard them talking at all for some time now. Wherever Marko and his men were taking him, through some kind of underground tunnel that ran underneath the streets above them after they had finally exited the elevator, Tony knew it was going to be trouble and he could only hope that the rest of his teammates would find him in time to rescue him and Clint, whom was now walking straight into Marko's trap willingly.


	10. Chapter 10

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Ten

When Tony awoke, he found himself tied to an old, wooden chair in the middle of a large room, where in the distance he could see Marko, standing around a table covered in what looked like several charts and papers, talking with several of his thugs, as well as Clint's brother, who had finally joined them. As he thought about what the last thing he could remember was, Tony realized that being knocked out wasn't it and he had no idea how much time had passed since they stepped back into the elevator inside Marko's office.

Tony thought about pretending to stay knocked out, but then decided against as he realized he was thirsty and so he finally spoke up cockily, "Even if it is too much trouble for you, I could really use a drink about now. I'm parched. The last drink I had was right before I stupidly decided to come see you. Exactly how long ago was that?"

Marko chuckled and then responded, "Not as long as I expected for you to remain unconscious, but then again, my guard didn't hit you over the head as hard as I would have. How are you feeling?"

"As I said, thirsty," Tony answered smugly. "Does the prisoner get some water, or do you plan on letting me die of thirst? I prefer something a little stronger than water if you have it? You know what I like."

"You're welcome to all the water you want," Marko replied as Barney picked up a water bottle and walked over to Tony with it. "I'm afraid that I don't have anything stronger for you to enjoy; not that I would offer you any if I did."

As Clint's brother stood in front of him, Tony asked, "Are you going to untie me so that I can drink like a big boy, or are you going to treat me like a baby and pour the water down my throat while I hang my mouth open. On second thought, I think I'll pass on the water altogether. For all I know, it may be poisoned."

Barney spoke up as he responded, "For a man, who knows he's going to die, you certainly are cocky, Mr. Stark. I don't know how my brother puts up with you. Or does he not have to work for you very often? He's obviously changed a lot since I knew him. The old Clint would have cut out your tongue to get you to shut up."

"You obviously didn't know him very well at all then," Tony answered. "I mean, I didn't know him then either, but if he was that ruthless, even at all, I wouldn't have taken a liking to him as quickly as I did. Clint's a good man. It's a pity you aren't more like him. And by the way, I'm not going to be the one who dies today, but the rest of you just might."

"Your precious team of Avengers have no idea where you are and they will never find you in time to save you, Stark," Marko spoke up again as he walked over to stand beside Barney. "If you had just let me take over your company, none of this would be happening."

Tony replied, "I don't just hand over my stuff to people I don't like. Actually, I don't hand over my stuff to anyone, even if I do like them. So tell me, Barney is it? How is it that you and your brother have come to be so against one another?"

Barney responded, "If you think stalling for time in hope that your friends will find you, you're sorely mistaken. The only one coming is Clint and when he gets here…"

"You're going to release Stark as was the deal I made with your boss, or I'll do it for you and neither of you will like the consequences if that happens," Clint interrupted as he walked into the room with his bow down at his side and his quiver full of his arrows on his back. "Untie him now, Barney, and I will keep my word to give myself up without a fight. As I said before, there's no need for this to get any uglier than it already is. What will it be, Marko?"

"Did you honestly think that I would keep my word?" Marko asked haughtily. "I wanted you both dead and now you're both here, exactly where I want you."

The moment Tony heard Clint speak up as he walked into the room, he had begun to struggle against the ropes that bound his wrists and ankles to the chair, but it wasn't until that moment when he finally spoke up as he said, "I suggest you quick talking, Legolas, and start fighting our way out of here already. These guys aren't really the keeping their word types."

Clint turned his head and looked over at Tony as he answered, "I think I've been around men like Marko here a bit longer than you, Stark. Believe me, I know what I'm doing."

Before anyone could move to stop him, Clint swiftly tethered an arrow into his bow and released it directly into the ground at Marko's and his brother's feet, which suddenly began releasing a large amount of smoke, making it impossible for them or their men to see anything in front of them. While they were distracted, Clint ran to Tony's side, then quickly cut the ropes away using one of his daggers to set him free, and finally ordered him to run.

"Very nice," Tony said quickly as he began to follow the archer out. "Next time, I'll try not to doubt your mad skills."

Both Clint and Tony ran along the long corridors outside of the room in search for the way out and as they did, Tony realized they were inside the sewer tunnels that ran along below the city's streets. From behind them, they could hear Marko shouting for his men to get after them, then heard and felt the stampede as they began to charge like they were bulls or cattle from an old western film. The teammates both knew it would only be a matter of time before the men would catch up to them, especially when they stopped short as they saw more of Marko's men charging at them from the opposite direction.

"I really hope that you can take on at least ninety-nine percent of these men at once, Barton, or I'm afraid we're both dead, just like they want," Tony said angrily as he watched as the men grew closer.

Clint once again raised his bow toward the ceiling almost above them and fired an arrow up, then suddenly pulled Tony down as the projectile suddenly exploded, causing debris to come crashing down, mostly on top of the men that was just about upon them. Clint covered Tony to protect him from the rubble as it finished collapsing and as they finally stood up straight, there was an opening to the street and Clint quickly pushed another button on his bow in order to change another arrow head.

As he tethered his next arrow, he quickly replied, "I thought you were going to stop doubting me."

Tony smirked as he responded, "I said I'd try. How exactly are you going to get us out of here? We can't exactly climb our way up there, the ceiling's too high. Besides, they'll be on us any second. Are you going to fire another smoke bomb?"

"You're getting out of here now," Clint answered as he fired what Tony now saw was a grappling arrow up at the traffic lights above, causing it to hook around the post, quickly shoved his bow into Tony's hands, then pulled out both of his guns, and began to fire toward the men in order to keep them back long enough for Tony to get out as they started to come around the corner. "I promised Tasha and Steve I'd get you to safety and I can't fight against this many men for long while trying to protect you. You're too valuable to the team to die down here and I'll be damned if it's because I didn't finish Marko off when I had the chance. This is my fight, Stark. I have to finish it. Besides, Barney's my brother. I have to try to save him if I can. Now go!"

"I can't just leave you down here," Tony argued until Clint suddenly reached out and pushed a button on his bow's handle, causing the bow to suddenly begin to retract toward the hook above them, pulling Tony out along with it.

Clint kept firing toward the men to keep them back long enough to make sure Tony had made it out, then he finally lowered his guns, raised his hands in the air, and knelt down on the ground to surrender himself to Marko, knowing that if he kept firing, he would quickly die where he stood. As he did so, Marko ordered his men to stop firing back and then moved forward to stand in front of Clint, who just stared at him and smiled.

Marko glared down at Clint and then spoke up angrily saying, "I should kill you right now, but I have something else in mind that's much worse. You may have saved Stark for now, but he won't get to his friends in time for them to come back to rescue you. We'll be long gone by then."

Barney moved forward and walked around Clint to stand behind him as Clint replied, "It doesn't matter. I said my goodbyes. I don't need their help to do what I need to do. In the end, you will fall, even if I have to die to stop you."

Marko nodded toward Barney, who suddenly brought his gun down hard against the back of Clint's head, causing him to fall roughly to the ground unconscious. As his men, who managed to survive the attack, moved forward and picked him the archer off the ground to carry him away, Marko screamed as he was angry at himself, as well as at the rest of his men, for allowing one man to break in and foil his plan to kill Stark as well.

"You hired me to protect you and your enterprises and I promise you, I will," Barney said once Marko finally finished. "We both underestimated him when we assumed we could take him down after he arrived, but in the end, he did give himself up, just as he said he would. It was just to protect a different target. He will die because his weakness is to protect me."

"We will use this to make him suffer before I decide it's time to kill him," Marko responded. "You don't have a problem with this, do you, Barton?"

Barney answered coldly, "No Sir, I don't."


	11. Chapter 11

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Eleven

After they had lost Tony's signal once he had entered Marko's office, Captain America and Black Widow made their way from where they had parked their car and through the building in hope of discovering why JARVIS could no longer find their friend and possibly the exit they used to leave, as they knew it wasn't through any of the building's doors. Any of Marko's employees that got in their way, the two Avengers easily managed to quietly subdue.

Eventually, they discovered Marko's jamming device that took out Tony's com and JARVIS' tracking beacon signal hidden underneath his desk, as well as that the elevator didn't stop on the ground floor, but that it travelled down into the sewer tunnels below the city. As they went down and began to search the tunnels for their colleague, Natasha asked JARVIS to patch them through to Fury back at S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to catch them up on their discoveries so far.

Fury spoke through the com as he asked, "_Have you managed to find any evidence of Stark's whereabouts yet?_"

Natasha responded, "Sir, these tunnels run throughout most of the city. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

"_Exactly whose idea was it for Stark to go in to confront Marko on his own anyway?_" the one-eyed leader asked. "_It certainly wasn't mine, but if it was, we wouldn't be in this mess right now and we wouldn't be two men down._"

"No, but it wasn't exactly your call," Steve replied. "It was a good plan. We just didn't expect Marko to be prepared for Stark to have back up, even though he knows that he's an Avenger. Tony came down here, Sir, because he wanted to help our friend, who himself is on his way here right now."

"Not anymore he's not," Tony spoke up suddenly as he walked around the corner from the opposite direction, carrying Clint's weapon on his back, followed closely by Thor and Bruce, who had arrived as they found Tony hanging from the light post by the grappling hook on Clint's bow.

As he walked over to them and pulled the bow back over his head to hand it over to Natasha, she fearfully asked, "What do you mean he's not on his way?"

Tony answered angrily, "He's already been here. Clint deliberately walked into a trap in order to rescue me, just as he said he would over the coms before mine was cut off, but we were outnumbered and in big trouble. If you were to follow me back through the tunnels, I'd bring you to the site where he blew a hole in the sewer and shoved his bow into my hands so that I could escape. He made sure that I made it out and then took on the rest of the men on his own until he was caught."

Natasha responded, "He deliberately handed himself over to them, not just to protect you, Stark, but also to try to save his brother."

"Yeah, well if we don't find out where they've taken him, he's going to get himself killed," Tony replied angrily. "His brother doesn't deserve to be rescued. Barney will kill Clint without as much as a thought. He gives the word monster a whole new meaning."

"If anyone understands what it is like to want to save the life of a brother, who, as you say, is a monster, I do," Thor said as he looked over at Tony, who was extremely angry. "What exactly has come between them to cause such a rivalry?"

Everyone looked over at Natasha, who lowered her head toward the ground and remained silent, until Bruce finally spoke up gently, "Natasha, we all understand that yours and Agent Barton's pasts are delicate and that you're not wanting to betray his trust, but if we're going to save him, we need to understand what has happened in his past so that we can figure out how to do it. It's possible that his past will give us a clue on how to find him."

Natasha cut off their communication to Fury and then answered sadly, "Clint told me his secrets because for whatever reason, he trusts me above anyone else, even though I am the last person who deserves his trust. Do you have any idea how precious that is? I cannot just throw it away, even to any of you."

"Tasha, believe us, we understand, just as Bruce said, but if what you know about him helps us to save him, wouldn't his life be worth it?" Steve asked as he moved to stand in front of her. "None of us would think any less of him, or of you, no matter what we learn. Not only did he fight to save the city against Loki, but Clint has sacrificed himself to save both Stark and me more than once tonight. He is one of us."

"And seeing as you two know everything there is to know about all of us, I think we have a right to know a bit more about you," Tony responded. "I think he'd understand. Besides, I doubt he'd be stupid enough to try to kill you afterward when he finds out that you told."

Natasha glared at Tony, who immediately shut his mouth, then she began to share with them what she knew as she began, "When he was seven, he and his brother were sent to live in an orphanage after their parents were killed in a car accident, thanks to their father, who was an alcoholic. However, they ran away when Clint was thirteen and both ended up joining a circus, where they were trained to become fighters and each gained their own unique skillsets. Even though Clint was younger, he was the one that had begun to receive most of the attention from their mentors, Jacques Duquesne, also known as the Swordsman, and Buck Chisholm, also known as Trickshot, because Clint was a better marksman and showman than his brother. Barney had grown jealous and they were already drifting apart when Clint eventually discovered that Duquesne was stealing money from the circus' profits. When he refused to join the criminal in his activities, the Swordsman nearly killed Clint as he wounded him and pushed him off of the hire wire, then left him for dead. Barney found him and brought him to Trickshot to be treated and later when Clint explained what had happened, Barney told Clint he was a fool for passing up on Duquesne's offer to help them become rich and then he left. The next time Clint saw Barney was when he and Trickshot confronted Marko to rob them of their ill-gotten wealth. Clint shot one of Marko's guards with one of his arrows, only to discover that it was Barney. He survived that night thanks to Clint, but Barney never forgave him and had come to hate him so much, that he swore the next time they met, he and Marko would kill Clint. So, Clint went into hiding and became a hired assassin and mercenary until he fell upon S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. Coulson and Fury saved him and gave him back his life, just as Clint did for me, which is why I will forever be in his debt. When he saved Stark and Captain Rogers two nights ago he blew his cover. I don't blame either of you. He would have come out of hiding to help you even if he knew beforehand that it was Barney he was facing."

Tony spoke up again saying, "So, Hawkeye's a carnie. Who knew? Did he wear tights?"

"Marko owns lots of properties around the globe, but I doubt he and Barney would have taken Clint out of New York, at least not in the small time frame since they left these tunnels," Bruce replied, ignoring Tony's attempt to lighten up the mood. "Is there anywhere in Clint's past that they could have taken him here that would be private for them to do whatever they have planned for him?"

"I only know what happened to him," Natasha answered as she looked down sadly at his bow in her hands. "I don't know of any specific locations. He could be anywhere."

In all seriousness, Tony nodded and responded, "I have never admitted to anyone that I owe them my life, but Clint sacrificed his own for me twice now, not caring what happens to him. Even my best friend gave up on me once until I smartened up and learned to apologize for being the fool that I was. Clint hardly knows me. I'd say that makes him someone I can trust without question and someone that I will put my life on the line for any day. We will find him, Miss. Romanoff."

Natasha smiled at Tony sincerely for the first time since she had known him and then turned to Thor and Bruce as she asked, "When exactly did you two arrive and how'd you know where to find us?"

"My business in South Africa was cut short, so I came back early," Bruce replied. "Fury told me that there was some trouble and so he sent me after you guys shortly after you left the base to follow Stark."

"And I had come back to Earth to visit with Jane Foster and Erik Selvig, who was here," Thor added. "I was there when Dr. Banner was told of your trouble. We arrived in time to see Stark hanging from a light post with Hawkeye's bow in hand. We hoped to find our friend before his enemies had taken him away, but we were obviously too late."

As the Avengers walked through the tunnels until they reached where the fight Tony had spoken of earlier had happened, Natasha turned to Thor and spoke up again as she asked quietly, "Has Loki paid for what he has done? Is he suffering?"

Thor looked directly into her eyes and answered, "He is paying for his sins, I promise you. I know how much pain he has caused for Barton, as I know how much he means to you. Erik has told me much, especially of how he feels after the things he had done while under Loki's power. I can only imagine the suffering Barton is going through as well and for that I am truly sorry."

"I don't blame you, Thor," Natasha responded sincerely. "Thank you for coming to help me save him."

"As friend Stark has said, we will find him," the god replied.

Tony suddenly spoke up again as they were observing the rubble caused from Clint's attack against Marko's men saying, "By the way, Captain, did you two think to bring with you what I gave you earlier so that I could change?"

Steve pulled down his gloves to reveal the two bracelets to Tony, who quickly smiled as he removed them and put them on his own wrists, then the captain answered, "If we're going to accomplish our mission to save our friend, we're going to need Iron Man too. He's much better in a fight than you are."

"There isn't normally much that I agree with you on, Captain, but today it seems we've been agreeing on lots of things," Tony responded. "Let's head back to Stark Tower to regroup. As I said earlier, this is a fight for the Avengers, not S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury and the council will not interfere with getting Agent Barton back. Besides, I need a drink; a big one."


	12. Chapter 12

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Twelve

When Clint finally awoke once again, he quickly found himself alone and lying on a cold, mud covered floor, as his instincts had kicked in; the room's pipes slowly leaking water that drained out through a small grate in the corner. The room was dimly lit, bare, and looked much like it was still a part of the sewer where he had entered to rescue Stark, though Clint knew it wasn't because his captives would have gotten as far away from it as fast as possible in order to remain hidden from the Avengers, who he knew would no doubt be trying to find him.

He found that his boots, vest, and shirt had all been removed, as well as was his quiver, with good reason, that was nowhere in sight, and his wrists were tightly tied together with thick cords, which were attached to a pulley hooked up to the ceiling above him. His ankles were also tied together and attached to a coil hooked to the floor.

After becoming aware and familiarizing himself with his surroundings, Clint slowly began to twist his wrists and ankles around, not to try to break or loosen the cords just yet, but to see if escaping was possible for when the time was right. However, he stopped doing so as the door suddenly opened and his brother walked in, followed closely by Marko and another man, who he didn't recognize.

Clint glared only at Marko and the stranger as they entered, but remained stoic and silent. Marko just chuckled as he found the younger Barton awake, as did Barney, who then motioned for the stranger to walk forward and do whatever it was he was there to do. Clint watched the man as he knelt down beside him, then hold up a syringe, and squirt out some of the liquid in order to let out the air inside the tube.

As the man suddenly injected the needle roughly into the crook of Clint's left arm, causing him to groan in pain from the rough treatment, Marko finally spoke up and said, "It's good that you're awake for this, Clint. I figured you would be, seeing as how spirited you are. I can only imagine how your head must feel after getting knocked out as hard as you were. What can I say, your brother has years of anger to release. What we're injecting into you now is only going to make you feel one hundred times worse and this is only the beginning."

Clint moved his eyes up to look at Marko and coolly replied, "I've been poisoned before and anything else you can possibly imagine. I can't say it's a pleasant experience, but if you're hoping to hear me scream, you're in for nothing, but disappointment. You won't get any satisfaction from me."

"On the contrary, watching you suffer and die will satisfy me plenty, even if it is in silence," Marko responded haughtily. "Don't you agree, Barney?"

"It shouldn't have ended up this way, Clint," Barney said without answering his boss' question. "You could have agreed to work with Jacques all those years ago and we would both be rich by now. Instead, only I'm rich and am forced to see you like this."

Clint finally looked up at his brother and answered, "I didn't force you to make the choices you did, Barney. I know I've done my share of evil, things that I have to live with for the rest of my life, but at least I wasn't just a lackey for scum like Jacques or Marko. What they do, what you do, is hurt innocent people without any kind of remorse."

Barney replied angrily, "Do not preach to me about your self-righteous morals! You and your friends had a fight that got a lot of innocent people killed."

"That's right, Clint," Marko continued. "Something about you didn't add up. After seeing what you did for Stark down in those tunnels, we knew you were more than just a bodyguard. So we did a little more research and do you want to know what we found? We found out that there were two unknown members of these so called superheroes that the world is talking about, whose identities are being kept a secret by their very secretive employers, S.H.I.E.L.D. One of them was an archer. One of them, was you."

"We were fools for not seeing what you are until now," Barney added when the third man in the room with them finally moved and pulled back on a lever, causing the pulley to lift off the ground and pull Clint up by his arms high above his head, leaving his feet dangling just off the floor. "You call yourselves heroes, but you're not."

Clint groaned as his arms and legs were stretched tightly, but he ignored the pain as he responded to Barney's accusation, "You're both right about me. I'm no hero and I'm no Avenger. I already said that I've done my share of evils that I can't make up for. I fought with the Avengers to defend this city against a man, who tried to make himself a god and ruler over our world, because I could, because I made a mistake that needed correcting. Then, I left, but the rest of them are exactly what most of the world claims them to be; heroes. Anyone who can't see that are fools. I protected Stark the other night and I gave myself up in exchange for him because the world needs Iron Man more than they need someone like me, an assassin."

Barney spoke up again as he asked, "You also gave yourself up in hope of saving me from the life of crime, didn't you? Did you think that your sudden nobility will make me want to give up everything I have; everything that I've worked so hard for, just so that we can be brothers again?"

"No," Clint answered coarsely as the effects of the poison injected into him moments ago slowly began to shoot pain throughout his chest, stomach, and arms. "I know we'll never go back to being brothers, but… I will fight to protect you from yourself, even if your life means so little… little to you. I'm not done yet."

"We'll see if you feel as confident in a few hours after the poison has taken more of an effect, as well as after what we have in store for you next," Marko said as he suddenly backhanded Clint hard across his face. "You will die here in this hellhole, Clint. I promise you this."

After he had finished pulling Clint up by his arms, the third man had walked out for a few minutes, but as Marko finished speaking, he walked back into the room carrying a cat o' nine tails in his hands and then handed it over to Barney. The older Barton looked up at his brother blankly and then turned to look at his boss, who only nodded, giving Barney the go ahead to start the torture session off.

Barney unfolded the whip as he spoke up angrily, "I've been waiting a long time for this chance to make you pay for everything you've done since you began to surpass me back in our days in the circus, little brother. This isn't just about you nearly killing me anymore. You've always believed you were better than me, just like you do now, but tonight, I'm not the one who's hanging by my wrists from the ceiling and about to die."

It was then that Barney suddenly struck the cat hard against Clint's back, causing the bone fragments embedded within the whip's tails to tear deep into his skin. Clint didn't scream, but Barney could see the pain etched across his brother's face and grinned in satisfaction, as did Marko. Clint closed his eyes tightly as the cat continued to lash across his back over and over again until Barney finally stopped, then handed the cat over to the third man. Marko laughed out loud as he and Barney walked out of the room. After they were gone, the lashes started up once again. Clint remained silent with his eyes closed as if he were in meditation, all the years as a master assassin, allowing him to be able to suppress the pain.


	13. Chapter 13

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Thirteen

As the five remaining members of the team arrived back at Stark Tower, they found Pepper sitting in a chair at a table as she was frantically scrolling through numerous 3D images from Tony's computer. As soon as they walked inside the main level from the elevator, Pepper marched over to them and suddenly slapped Tony across his face, as most of them, except for Tony, could see that she had been worried about him.

"Ah… ow, what on earth was that for, Pepper?" Tony asked as he lifted his hand to his cheek to rub across the pained surface, while the rest of the teammates walked past the couple and took a seat, or stood, at the computer.

"That's for getting yourself kidnapped, again!" she angrily answered. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid to get yourself in anymore trouble, Tony. Are you all right?"

Tony responded, "First of all, yes, I'm just fine and second, I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done if you were me, which you're clearly not, so don't go jumping to all kinds of conclusions without knowing all the facts."

Pepper replied, "Oh, I know the facts, Tony. JARVIS told me and if you ask me, your decisions were reckless. How could you just hand yourself over to a group of hitmen, without knowing all the facts yourself?"

"Because I thought I was doing it to save the life of a friend, who actually ended up having to save me," Tony answered angrily. "I was set up and because of my stupidity, Barton's now paying the price. You're right, Pepper. I should have figured it all out before we tried to put our plan in action."

"It wasn't just your fault, Tony," Steve responded as he walked over to stand beside him. "Miss. Romanoff and I went along with your plan. We should have been able to come up with a better game plan."

Tony quickly replied, "Maybe, but if I didn't try to…"

Natasha stopped running her fingers across the computer keys and angrily pounded her fists against the top of the desk to interrupt them, then stood up and walked toward them as she said, "The two of you need to stop arguing like children about who's to blame for this mess and help the rest of us figure out how we can save Clint! Whose fault it is doesn't matter. What does is that Barton is in trouble and it's our job to find him and bring down Marko and Barney, without hurting him."

"Are you serious, Miss. Romanoff?" Tony asked as Bruce took a seat at the computer and began to search the databases for anything that might lead them to finding Clint. "That little brat is the reason why Clint's even in this mess and as I've said before, he won't hesitate to kill Barton. I say we do what we can, but if his death is what it takes, I definitely won't lose sleep over it."

"You don't understand, Stark," Natasha answered solemnly. "Normally, I would agree with you, but Barney is Clint's brother and the very last thing he asked for us to do, in case he couldn't, was to make sure he is taken care of, no matter what. He meant for us to make sure that we bring him into S.H.I.E.L.D., alive. Right now, Clint is on the edge of stability. If we don't protect Barney, it will push him over."

Steve spoke up again saying, "We will save them both, Ma'am. Dr. Banner, have you managed to find anything out yet?"

Bruce shook his head and responded, "No, but we haven't been looking long. Natasha, did Agent Barton get his code name, Hawkeye, back from his days with the circus, or was it given to him by Fury?"

"It was given to him back when he was working at the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders," Fury replied as he suddenly exited from the elevator and walked into the room.

"Security… JARVIS, what the hell happened to my security protocols I gave you?" Tony asked as he glared at Fury. "You know, you're really beginning to fail me. What do you have to say for yourself?"

JARVIS spoke up as the A.I. answered, "I'm sorry, Sir. Director Fury has overridden my protocols, just as Agent Coulson did before."

Fury grinned briefly and then responded, "I'm sorry to interrupt this little pow wow the rest of you are having, but I don't appreciate being hung up on in the middle of being briefed on a new situation, especially one as dire as this one. And for your information, I know just about as much about Agent Barton's past as you, Agent Romanoff."

"No offense, Sir, but we all felt that finding Agent Barton and his captors is a matter for the Avengers, not for S.H.I.E.L.D., and especially not for the council, seeing as they wouldn't care whether or not Clint is brought back alive, as well as his brother," Steve replied firmly.

"The captain's right, Nick," Tony added. "We're not exactly their favorite people despite what we did for them and to save this city. To them, we're only a team of freaks. You said it yourself."

The director nodded and answered, "I agree with both of you, which is why I haven't informed the council of our situation, only Agent Hill. I'm here, because Agent Barton is one of the finest men I know and I care about his wellbeing as much as any of you. I'm here, to offer my services, even if it means working from here instead of where I'm comfortable."

Natasha responded, "Thank you, Sir."

"I do not wish to interrupt this moment of peace, but should we not get back to our search for our friend?" Thor asked before any more could be said between them.

"Yeah, I was going to say earlier that it's probable Clint's brother and Marko have taken him to place well known to either one of them and if Hawkeye was one of the headliners back when he was with the circuses and carnivals he travelled with, then maybe we can help to eliminate certain places where they could be by looking up the cities that they travelled to," Bruce replied. "Natasha, you said you don't know any of the locations he is familiar with, but surely these records would be somewhere on the internet. It's going to take a while."

Tony nodded as he said, "Good thinking, Doc. Just do what you've got to do. My home is your home. Anyone want a drink? I'm having one."

Steve shook his head and answered, "I think we're all good. Did Clint say anything to you before he got you out of those tunnels?"

"Nothing that will help us to find him," Tony answered passively while he lowered his head down and began to stare ahead, as the rest of the teammates noticed a sudden, newfound fire in his eyes. "He said something that, for now, will stay between him and me, but I swear if he doesn't come out of this, I will find a way to revive him, just so that I can kill him again myself."

"You'll have to get in line, Stark," Natasha responded. "If anyone gets to kill him for his stupidity in wanting to protect all of us, it's going to be me."


	14. Chapter 14

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Fourteen

Over the next several hours, exactly how long it had been he wasn't sure, Clint had fallen in and out of consciousness due to the pain thanks to the poison he had been injected with, the earlier knife wound in the back of his left shoulder that had reopened because of his more recent fight against his captors and from being hung up by his arms, and also because of the whip's lashes across his back and chest. After forty, Clint had lost count as to how many times he had been struck before the third man had finally left him alone.

By the time he had finally come around and regained his senses, Clint was too weak to try to escape, even if he could manage to get out of his bonds. However, as long as he was left alone over the next hour, he figured he'd be recovered enough to be able to do the job that needed to be done. Thankfully, his years of training allowed him to be able to suppress the physical pain from his wounds, but the poison was a different story and only getting worse as time passed. He was feeling weak, dizzy, and he could feel a fever building up as it was beginning to rage throughout his body.

Unfortunately, he was interrupted as the door opened up once again and his brother walked in quietly. Clint kept his head down and eyes trained on the muddy floor as Barney set a stool down in front of him and then began to stare at him. Not a word was spoken for several minutes until the older Barton finally broke the silence.

"I've got to say you really know how to keep cool in distressing situations, little brother," he said. "Once again, I'm impressed. I wanted to come in here to see how you're feeling. You look like hell."

"You don't really care how I feel, so don't waste your time trying to pretend with me," Clint replied. "Besides, it doesn't really matter. You'll keep up with the torture and I'll still end up putting an end to yours and Marko's business ventures."

Barney responded coldly, "In time, your cockiness will die out, once you finally realize that you won't be getting out of here alive. The sooner you can do that, the better off you'll be."

Clint stated firmly as he slowly lifted his head and looked into his brother's eyes, "I won't give up and I definitely won't give up in trying to save you. You've already failed Marko twice now since we met up the other night. First, when I thwarted your assassination attempt against Stark outside the club, and then again when I rescued him in the sewers and killed a number of your men. How much longer do you think Marko's going to put up with your failures? Do you really think a guy like him will keep you around for much longer?"

"And what would happen to me if I accepted your help?" Barney asked. "Would I end up in prison, where I'll spend the rest of my life rotting away in some tiny cell with three meals a day and maybe a tiny television so that I can keep up with the news from the outside world?"

"It's better than trying to spend the rest of your life on the run, hiding from men who want to kill you just like you're doing to me, or hiding from an agency as powerful as S.H.I.E.L.D., who have the power to do much worse," Clint answered. "I want to help you, Barney. And I can, if you let me."

Barney replied, "I'm just fine where I'm at. You're in no condition to pull off more of your theatrics, Clint. A fever's already taken affect over your system thanks to the poison. It's only a matter of time before your different systems begin to shut down. That's what it does, slowly and painfully. On top of all that, you're wounded and have lost a lot of blood. How on earth do you expect to escape, after all that?"

Clint tried to shift in his restraints in order to get more comfortable and then responded, "I'm stronger than you think. I've been doing this for a long time now."

"I guess I've come in to chat a little too soon," Barney answered as he finally stood up and picked up the stool. "I'll come back in a few hours and if you're still as strong willed then, we'll just have to bring back the whip. I meant what I said before about wishing things didn't have to be this way. I want nothing more than to be brothers again, but you've made your choices and I've made mine. Now we have to live with the consequences. For what it's worth, I am sorry, Clint."

Just as Barney was about to leave the room, Clint spoke up once more as he said, "If I can't stop you and Marko, then the Avengers will and trust me, you won't like it if they get their hands on you. They'll bring you in, but they won't do anything to try to help you. They went up against a god and his army from another world, and won. Five against millions aren't exactly great odds. Think about how you, Marko, and the rest of your men will fare."

Barney only glared angrily at the archer, then finally left the room, slamming the door behind him. As he walked through the corridors of the old, underground bunker where they were staying hidden from the rest of the Avengers, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D., he couldn't stop thinking about Clint's threats. Deep down, he knew Clint was right. If Clint died, his friends would avenge him and instead of remaining in a prison cell for the rest of his life, he would most likely end up with a needle in his arm. However, his anger toward his brother that had been building up since they were kids kept him from thinking rationally. Barney no longer cared as long as he came out on top.


	15. Chapter 15

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Fifteen

Back at Stark Tower…

Bruce's idea to search the databases for any known, familiar places to both the archer and his brother was smart. Unfortunately, it wasn't helping them to get any closer to finding him. It only eliminated the places that weren't a possible hideout for Marko and his men to stash away their prisoner. It had been several hours since Clint had rescued Tony and it was well into the next day. None of the Avengers had slept since Barney had first surfaced, but they fought through the weariness in order to try to find their friend, no matter how long it took. They knew that Clint would do the same for any one of them.

As Bruce was busy continuing to sort through the databases, Thor was eating and talking with Pepper as he sat down on the couch beside Director Fury, who was looking through numerous files from his computer that he had brought with him from the base, while Steve was concentrating on hitting another punching bag, which Tony had brought into the room before this mess had begun. The workout helped the captain to regain focus on the task at hand. Tony was also sitting on the couch beside Pepper as he helped Fury to sort through the files, until he noticed Natasha as she walked out of the room in silence after she had just been pacing angrily back and forth until then.

After following after her, hoping that she wouldn't beat him for just wanting to make sure she was all right, Tony finally found her standing on the edge of the roof and staring out over the city. Tony knew that she knew he was behind her and so he slowly walked up and stood beside her, but remained silent until she made the first attempt to talk.

"I wish that I could see the way he sees," Natasha said softly. "The height helps him to be able to see everything at once. The view of the city from up here is beautiful, or it will be once the repairs are finally finished. I've never really noticed it before, not anywhere."

"It's even more amazing at night," Tony responded and then waited for her to keep talking while he listened.

Natasha continued her first thought saying, "Perhaps if I could see things like him, I might be able to notice something that would help us find him. Clint and I have gotten separated numerous times during our missions together, but he has always found a way to let me know where he was, as I've always done for him. This time though, he isn't expecting us. He doesn't want us to find him. When he said goodbye earlier, he meant for good."

Tony was about to say something in reply until he finally looked over at her and asked, "There's something more to the two of you than just a partnership, isn't there? We're not blind, Miss. Romanoff. I know how it feels to be in love with…"

"We're not in love," Natasha answered defensively before Tony could finish. "Love is something neither of us can afford. I just owe him a debt that I'll never be able to repay. He had been sent by Fury to kill me. I don't know what he saw in me then, what he still sees in me now, but he chose to spare my life that night; made a different call. If Clint dies, then I will have failed him."

"Barton would be the first one to tell you that that isn't true, but I promise you this, Natasha, we're not going to lose our skillful archer tonight, not because of Marko and certainly not because of his brother," Tony replied.

Steve suddenly spoke up as he slowly walked up from behind them after hearing most of their conversation saying, "Tony's right, Tasha. If the six of us can defeat Loki and a huge alien army, then this will be a catwalk."

Tony rolled his eyes and then responded, "It's cakewalk, Captain. The term is cakewalk."

"Right, that's what I meant," Steve quickly said in his defense.

"Clint is the strongest man I know, Captain, but he isn't like you, Thor, the Hulk, or even you in your suit, Tony," Natasha answered. "He's just human, without science, powers, or armor to protect him. His strength will only keep him alive for so long. If we don't find him soon… I'm afraid of what I'll do if we lose him. He's the only one that keeps me from being the real Black Widow that innocent people, as well as the criminal underworld fears."

With that said, Natasha turned and left the roof, leaving Tony and Steve bewildered as they stayed behind, until Tony finally spoke up again as he said, "Who knew one man could leave such impact on a person as unemotional as Miss. Romanoff? In fact, when it comes to Barton, she certainly can't help but wear her heart on her sleeve. She just won't admit it."

Steve nodded as he replied, "That's because she can't. You heard what she said, Tony. Two assassins can't afford to be in love. Otherwise, their enemies can use it to gain power over them. It isn't fair. At least I knew what it was like to feel love for someone and be loved in return, even if it was only for a few moments before it was ripped away from me. And you've got Pepper."

"And Thor has Jane," Tony added. "Bruce, well I don't think he has anyone anymore, but he did have someone. Who cares about spy rules? I say we rescue Cupid and then find a way to make them see that they can be in love, without announcing it to the world. If you ask me, they're just being cowards."

Suddenly, Bruce came out from the stairwell, after apparently running up the flights of stairs it took to get up there, then as soon as he caught his breath again he said quickly, "I think we just got a way to find Barton."

Both Steve and Tony rushed over to him as Steve asked, "What do you mean you found him; how?"

"A signal on the handle of his bow suddenly lit up a few minutes ago," Bruce responded. "Fury said it's a tracking beacon that will lead us to wherever his quiver is. If Barton was the one that pressed it, I doubt it would have been anyone else, then his bow should lead us straight to him."

"I thought he didn't want us to find him?" Tony asked in confusion. "Why won't he make up his mind?"

Steve looked between Tony and Bruce as he answered, "I don't think that he activated the beacon so that we can find him. He did it so that we could find them; to find and save his brother."

Meanwhile…

Another two hours had passed since Barney had come in to talk with him. His pain levels were increasing and the fever was only continuing to grow worse, but Clint realized that if he was going to break free, now was the time to do it before the poison could make it anymore impossible for him to function, and with a clear mind.


	16. Chapter 16

A New Way to Bleed

Chapter Sixteen

Once he decided that it was time to escape, Clint looked up at the cords that bound his wrists high up above him to the pulley and began to struggle to break free. The cords were slowly becoming looser as he twisted his wrists around, but not as fast as he needed them to, so without even thinking about it, Clint cupped his right hand over his other and swiftly broke the bones he needed to so that he could slide the hand out of his binds, wincing as he did so. After his hands were free, he lowered himself to the floor and sat down while he quickly worked to untie his feet.

When he finished, he stood up and moved to the door, scanning it for a way to break it down or take it off its hinges while making as little noise as possible. Both he and Natasha had been in a few situations like this and so escaping from a locked rooms wasn't difficult for him, unless of course the door was barred from the outside, which in this case, Clint was grateful that it wasn't.

Before Clint moved forward in his escape, he took a moment to compose himself, as the fever and the pain he had suppressed fought to break their way back to the surface, then used his good hand to remove the bolts from the door's hinges, a trick that Natasha had taught him, rather than kicking it open or knocking it down using his shoulders and body for leverage. He didn't have the strength anymore to be able to pull that off, then to have to go out and take down, who knew how many bad guys there were that were out there. They were all he could afford to focus on.

As he exited the cell, he found that there was no one nearby and so he swiftly, but quietly, made his way through the halls of the old, worn down bunker that Marko and Barney had hidden themselves from their enemies in. It wasn't until he rounded a corner and discovered a small room being guarded by two of the men that Clint discovered that he knew exactly where they were, as he had been down in these corridors several times before, back when he and his brother were children. This was the old bunker that lay beneath the grounds of the orphanage where they used to live until they ran away. He and Barney had played in the bunker many times, unbeknownst by the people that ran the orphanage.

Clint pushed the old memories away as he quickly took out the guards, without them being able to make a sound, and then walked inside the room, where the archer found his clothes, boots, his daggers, his gun, and thankfully his quiver still full of his arrows. He knelt down beside his things and worked to put his clothes and boots back on so that he'd be able to move more comfortably throughout the bunker, then finally picked up the quiver, and gently replaced it on his back, despite the terrible discomfort that arose as the pressure from the clothing's material and his weapon pressed up against his wounds.

As he exited the room, Clint pressed the button on the underside of the quiver, which sent a tracking beacon out to his bow, out to the Avengers. Though he had told Natasha goodbye, he knew that his brother, Marko, and the rest of the men that survived in the upcoming fight would need to be brought in to S.H.I.E.L.D. and despite his skills, Clint knew that he couldn't take down everyone alone. He just hoped that his friends would arrive before his strength gave out, before Barney and Marko could escape. After that, he no longer cared what happened to him. A part of him even welcomed death, as he couldn't help but feel that it was what he deserved for everything evil that he had done in his life.

Once he was clear, Clint cautiously continued to make his way through the halls, taking out several more of Marko's men along the way, not only by using his gun and his daggers, but by a few of his arrows as well, despite the absence of his bow. Unfortunately, taking the men down made it so that Clint was no longer undetected, as they were able to alert the rest of his captors to his escape.

As soon as he heard the alert that Clint had managed to escape, Marko began shouting orders to the rest of his men to attack the archer with as much force as was necessary, but that he wanted them to take him alive. Then, he looked over at Barney, who had a grin on his face, which Marko knew was an expression that showed how impressed he was by his brother's strength and character.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Marko asked his right hand angrily while he remained standing in the bunker's main room at the head of a table, which was covered by numerous maps of the city. "You knew that his determination to kill me and protect you would give him the strength to take down all of my men and yet you're standing here smirking?"

"He warned us several times that he would," Barney answered as he stood beside his boss. "I can't help but admire him a little. Don't worry, Clint won't be able to take all of them down before the poison in his system becomes too much for him to handle. No one is that strong."

Seconds after this was said, they turned to the room's entrance as the noise suddenly died down and Clint was then dragged in by two of the men, who shoved him down to the ground at Marko's and Barney's feet. They could see by looking at the men that had taken the archer down, that Clint had put up a hell of a fight, as both of the men had blood on their faces, as well as their fists, and one had a broken nose. Barney knew that the only reason why they had finally managed to subdue his brother was because of the fever and blood loss that was slowly claiming his body.

Clint leaned back as he remained on his knees and looked up at Barney, until Marko suddenly backhanded him hard across his face once again, as he had done earlier in the room where he had been strung up by his wrists. Clint had collapsed back to the floor after the impact, but slowly moved to lean back once again, refusing to let his captors to gain any satisfaction from the suffering he was currently feeling inside.

Marko spoke up saying, "You are a fool, Clint, if you really thought that you could take me down, as well as all of my men, and then leave here with your brother as your prisoner to take back to S.H.I.E.L.D."

When he suddenly heard a sound not too far from where they were that he clearly recognized as it grew closer, Clint looked up again at Marko as he replied, "I wasn't on planning on doing it alone. I just needed to by myself some time for them."

Before Marko could ask him what he meant, the Hulk suddenly came crashing through the entrance as he roared angrily, quickly followed by Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, and Captain America, as the rest of Marko's men raised their weapons and began to shoot wildly at the beast until they were ordered to stand down. Everyone suddenly came to a standstill as Barney swiftly pulled Clint up onto his feet in front of him and held a knife tightly up against his neck. The Hulk roared again angrily as he saw his friend was in trouble, but Steve quickly called out to him, ordering him to stand down as well.

"I suggest you let him go right now, Cain, or we won't hesitate letting our jolly green giant here rip you apart when this is all over," Tony said firmly as he hovered in the air above his teammates. "I can imagine that won't be a very pleasant experience for you, but it just might be for the rest of us."

Natasha remained passive as she locked eyes with her partner, who only gave her a small smile, acting as if he wasn't worried, and then she scanned his body for any and all possible injuries. She couldn't see many except a small amount of blood coming out of the left corner of his mouth from where Marko had backhanded him a few minutes before and a small cut on the right side of his head. She could also see that his left hand was clearly broken as well. The lashes on his chest and back were covered up by his shirt and vest, but despite the mud and filth that covered his body, she also was able to see that he was clearly ill, as his skin was red from a fever and his body was drenched in sweat.

"I think you know that my team and I can take you and your men down quite easily, as our friend here has already managed to take a majority of them down on his own," Captain America continued. "This doesn't have to get any messier, Marko. Let him go and no one else has to die here tonight."

Marko continued to hold his gun out in front of him until he slowly moved his hand to aim it directly at Clint's head as he responded, "I may be going down tonight, but at least I won't be going down alone."

Just as Marko was about to pull the trigger, Clint suddenly thrust one of his daggers that he had concealed in his palm deep into Barney's leg, at the same time as Natasha quickly threw one of her explosive discs from her bracelet at Marko's feet in order to distract him long enough to help Clint. Barney screamed as the dagger cut into his leg, distracting him just enough to allow Clint to pull back his hand carrying the knife away from his neck, then the marksman punched his fist hard against the left side of his brother's face, successfully knocking him down to the ground, and once again in order to knock him unconscious.

As the small blast caused Marko to fall back a step, he suddenly shouted for his men to open fire on the Avengers, causing them to step into action, while he began to run toward another exit of the room in order to escape. The Hulk began to smash several men around him, as the rest of the team began to fight against their own opponents. Thor used lightning from his hammer to knock the men out, rather than striking them down, unless the force was necessary to help the others. Steve used his shield and increased agility to fight and Tony blasted or pummeled his attackers. However, no matter how many of Marko's men they struck down, it appeared that they came from a never ending supply as they just kept coming from all directions.

Clint knelt down on the ground beside his brother as the fight was going on around them and he swiftly wrapped a makeshift bandage around the knife wound in his leg, then draped his arm over his shoulder and attempted to stand up so that he could drag him out, but as he did, he began to fall back down, as the pain was becoming too intense, until Natasha ran over to him and draped Barney's other arm over her own shoulders. Together, they stood and began to make their way out through the tunnels of the bunker.

Natasha finally spoke up as she looked over at Clint while they continued running and asked, "I need you to tell me the truth, Clint, what did they do to you?"

"Now's not really the time for that, Nat," he answered. "I'm fine."

"Do not try to tell me that you're fine," she replied in frustration. "You're in obvious pain and you're sweating. You're sick."

Clint ignored her as he responded, "I just want to get... to get my brother out of here, so that you can take him back."

Natasha caught that he had said that he wanted her to take Barney back and so she asked, "Don't you mean so that we can take him back?"

"You heard what I said, Natasha," Clint answered firmly. "I'm not… agh...!"

"Clint, what's going on?" Natasha cried as her partner suddenly collapsed to his knees as he cried out in pain, causing her to also lose grip on his brother as well, who fell down on top of him and then all the way to the ground. "Please talk to me."

However, before he could reply, they were both attacked by several more men, who had charged out from one of the rooms where Clint had already managed to subdue them earlier. Natasha quickly laid Clint's bow, which she was carrying around her back, down on the ground beside him so that he could defend himself, then began to fight off as many of their attackers as she could.

Clint fought the pain back as best as he could, then reached out to pick up his bow when he saw that Natasha was about to get shot by a man sneaking up from behind her, and fired an arrow directly into his chest. Clint took out two more of the men with precision and then leaned up against the wall as he struggled to fight against the poison. However, as he was focusing on Natasha in order to make sure she was all right while she continued fighting, Barney woke up and quickly ran off toward the exit. Clint tried calling out to him as he did so, but he couldn't stop him, so he slowly got up and went after his brother while still holding onto his bow, leaving Natasha behind. When she finally finished the men off, she turned around to find both Clint and Barney was gone and then took off after them herself as quickly as she could.

As Barney made it outside of the bunker, he began to walk toward the helicopter, which he figured was how a few of his brother's teammates had come. He had learned how to fly a long time ago, even before he had met Marko. However, as he was about to climb in, Marko stepped up from behind him and cocked the glock of his gun that was now trained on Barney's back.

His boss spoke up asking, "I thought you were going to protect me and my assets? Instead you brought me here to your run down, old orphanage only to end up running away and hiding from these so called superheroes."

Barney replied, "I will fly you out of here, Marko. We can start over someplace else, where my brother and the rest of those freaks can't touch us."

"There's nowhere they can't and won't go to find me now," Marko responded. "You failed me, Barton, and now you've outlived your usefulness."

"Not today!" Clint cried out as he suddenly struck Marko over the head from behind him using his bow.

The blow was strong enough to knock the villain to the ground as his gun slipped out from his hand, but the force he used to save his brother also caused him to collapse as well. Marko moved to overpower Clint as they both began to struggle on the ground, when all of a sudden a shot was fired and Marko fell over on top of Clint. The younger brother quickly glanced at Marko, who was still alive, but struggling to remain so, as he pushed the man off of him, then looked up at his brother as he found him now pointing the gun directly at him.

Barney locked eyes with Clint and then calmly said, "I appreciate the save, little brother, but I won't go to prison and I can't risk the poison not finishing you off so that you can come after me. I'm sorry."

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a flash grenade suddenly struck the ground at Barney's feet, distracting him so that Natasha could attack in order to strike him down in time to save her partner. As she fought Barney, Marko attempted to make a final move for the gun that had once again been dropped and aimed it over at Clint, who could no longer do anything to defend himself as he continued to struggle to move. A shot was fired at the same time as an energy burst suddenly struck Marko in his chest, killing him instantly.

Clint turned his head in time to see Tony as he hovered above them and then collapsed as his body finally gave out for good. Steve ran over as Tony lowered himself down beside Clint and together they both moved to help their friend, who Tony could now see had been shot despite his attempt to take Marko out before he fired. Steve laid a comforting hand on his chest in order to keep him from trying to rise.

Thor and the Hulk came out from the bunker in time to watch Natasha finally knock their friend's brother unconscious and then noticed Steve kneeling over Clint, who was no longer moving. Natasha swiftly knelt over Clint and gently pulled him into her arms as she cried out his name when his eyes slowly closed and as blood began to trickle out from the corners of his mouth. He was still breathing, but was struggling to do so.

"Hawkeye, dying?" the Hulk asked as fearful as the teammates have ever seen him.

"Hulk, we need Bruce," Natasha pleaded as she looked up at the beast that was now a friend just as the others were. "He's the only one with the medical knowledge to help him, please!"

The Hulk looked down at his friend and then over at her with fear, then lowered his head as he slowly began to transform back into Bruce Banner. Thor quickly pulled his cape from off his shoulders and wrapped it around the doctor as he began to look Clint over, in order to cover him as his clothes became torn when he had turned into the beast.

"JARVIS, I need you to scan Agent Barton for any injuries and drugs throughout his system that could be causing his condition," Tony called out forcefully through his com from inside his armor and then removed his helmet, as Steve removed his mask as well.

JARVIS answered, "It appears that Agent Barton's left hand has been broken in three different places and his wrists and ankles have rope burns, as well as deep cuts from whatever his bindings were during his captivity."

As Bruce had begun to remove Clint's vest, he felt blood seeping through the younger man's shirt and onto his hands, then gently pulled up his shirt to get a look at the source of the blood flow when he suddenly cried out, "My God!"

"What did they do to him?" Steve asked coldly as he stared down at the lashes that covered Clint's body.

"The numerous lashes across his back and chest have caused several deep lacerations and a great loss of blood," JARVIS continued. "They look to have been caused by a whip or a…"

Natasha interrupted, "A cat; he's been whipped with a cat. It explains the patterns of the lacerations."

Thor looked over at her in confusion as he asked, "How can a beast as small as a cat cause this kind of damage?"

Steve couldn't help but chuckle briefly before he looked up at the god and replied, "No, we mean that the kind of whip that was used on him is called a cat o' nine tails. The handle has several tails attached, instead of just the one of a regular whip, that are usually embedded with pieces of bone, made to inflict the most severe amount of damage possible."

"JARVIS, can you detect poison in his system?" Tony asked as he finally spoke up once again. "He's burning up like a fried egg on a griddle and his body is shutting down. More than these injuries have to be what's causing it."

"I'm afraid so, but the poison in undefinable for now," JARVIS responded. "It will take time for me to sort through my data for possible poisons that match."

"Just work as fast as you can, J," Tony answered forcefully. "We need to get him back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical bay as quickly as possible. He won't be able to last much…"

Before Tony could finish what he was saying, Natasha suddenly cried out that Clint was no longer breathing. Bruce quickly laid his head down on the archer's chest to listen for a heartbeat and when he didn't hear nor feel one, he began to pump up and down on his chest in hope of getting it started once again, while Natasha breathed into his mouth in between to get him breathing.

Unfortunately, neither of their efforts was working, when Tony suddenly pushed himself between Bruce and Natasha and said quickly, "I need you both to step back, I've got an idea. JARVIS, I need you to set the suit's electricity to its lowest setting. We're going to jump start his heart just like a defibrillator."

The teammates looked on in both fear and anger as Tony sent an electrical shock through Clint's system while he shouted, "Come on! Don't you dare allow yourself to die because of your brother and a dirtbag like Marko! I won't let you, so fight, damn it!"

"Please, Clint, come back to us; to me," Natasha whispered softly into his ear after Tony had shocked him three more times and then finally stopped when it didn't seem to be working. "I need you."

Clint remained still and lifeless as Natasha pulled him slowly back into her arms as her tears fell from her face down onto his, while Tony just stared at his friend in shock, and the rest of the Avengers lowered their heads down sadly. However, after a few moments of silence, aside from Natasha's quiet sobs, Clint suddenly breathed in a large breath of air, as his heart had actually begun to beat once again. His eyes remained closed and his breathing was weak, but he was alive, which was all they needed to know as both Steve and Tony gently picked him up off the ground and carefully lifted him into the helicopter.

"Whoa, who knew that that's all I needed to do in order to earn that from you, Miss. Romanoff," Tony said cockily as Natasha suddenly kissed him on his cheek as a way of thanking him for saving Clint and then got into the helicopter behind her partner, followed by Bruce and Steve, since they weren't able to fly on their own. "You three take care of him. Thor and I will meet you back at the base."

Nine weeks later…

Tony slowly walked through the corridors at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base looking for Fury, but as he entered the room where he had anticipated the one-eyed leader was, the only person he found was Agent Hill, who was sitting at the conference table reading over some kind of report. She looked up as soon as Tony entered, then waved at him to come in.

Tony quickly cleared his throat and then asked, "Ah, I'm actually looking for Nick. I was expecting to find him here, not you; no offense."

The woman replied, "None taken. He isn't here right now. Actually, he's off at some sort of hearing in front of the council, due to recent events that have taken place over the last several weeks. I believe that the council members are not too happy with him right now, or your team. How is Agent Barton doing?"

"He's back to sparing and acting fully functional despite still feeling pain and Agent Romanoff's protests," Tony responded. "The poison nearly killed him and he should still be resting and taking it easy, but he won't. For the most part, I think physically he's doing fine, but emotionally… he hardly talks to any of us; not even to Natasha. He thanked us for saving his life, but he keeps to himself all the time. He'll stand alone on the roof at Stark Tower looking out over the city for any signs of a threat for hours in a day and hardly sleeps at night because of the nightmares. Everyone's worried about him, but nothing we say or do will get him to stop and talk."

"I'm sorry, Stark," Maria answered sincerely. "I've known Clint for a long time and the truth is, he's always been like this, but it appears that this time he's reached his limit of how much he can take. Director Fury is in trouble for disregarding their orders once again to have Barton brought before them to stand trial for going rogue one too many times; something both he and Fury have in common it seems."

Tony looked at her again as he replied, "Clint went off on his own in order to save me and protect his team, as well as to protect his brother, who he handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D. by the way."

Maria continued, "Yes, well unfortunately the council doesn't see it that way. They see Barton as a threat and have ever since he refused to kill Agent Romanoff years ago and then again when he was under Loki's control. Fury and I know he wasn't to blame, and so does your team, but…"

"The councilmen are fools," Tony interrupted. "Whoever voted them into those seats were idiots and fools too. Will Barton and Fury be all right?"

"If Fury has anything to say about it, I'd say yes," Agent Hill responded. "The director has a keen way of getting what he wants in the end."

Tony thanked her and walked away. When he arrived back at home, he found Clint preparing to leave as he stood beside his motorcycle, his bow and quiver over his back like usual, surrounded by Natasha, Steve, Thor, and Bruce, who were all trying to convince him not to go. Clint hung his head down as he listened to their pleas, but Tony could see from his friend's face that they weren't going to do them any good.

Steve spoke up saying, "Agent Barton, you're a valued member of our team and most importantly, you're our friend. If you think that you don't deserve to be here, you're wrong. You've proved it more than anyone should ever have too."

Tony added, "Cap's right. They're all right. You saved my life twice in disregard for your own. You fought to keep us all safe, as well as your brother, who is the reason for the hell that you're going through now. You had a chance to kill him and Marko, but instead you did the right thing and turned them over to us, until I took Marko out before he could kill you. The six of us are what makes the Avengers a team and to the world, her…"

"Stop, please just stop," Clint suddenly interrupted forcefully. "I'm not one of you, despite the things you say I've done. I can't be one of you. You may not blame me for my actions while Loki had me under his control, but it doesn't change the fact that a large number of people, including Coulson, are all dead because of me. And there are hundreds before that. I've been an assassin for a long time and even before I was, I had killed."

"And so have I," Natasha cut in. "But I'm here because of you. The Black Widow is now a force for good because you believed in me, when no one else did. If you leave, I'm coming with you."

Clint finally looked into her eyes and answered firmly, "No, you belong here with them. Someone needs to look after them and keep them in line if they start their bickering again. One day, I'll be back if I can finally learn to accept who I am, but for now, I need time alone. Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other while you're on a mission. The rest of you take care of her for me, all right?"

Steve nodded as he reached out to shake his hand and replied, "You have my word. Good luck out there, Clint. Take care of yourself and know that you're welcome back whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Captain," Clint responded and then reached out to shake everyone else's hands as they all said their own goodbyes.

Clint stiffly sat down on his bike then turned to look over at Natasha once again, who suddenly reached out and pulled his head close to hers as she kissed him for just a few moments before he broke her off. He wanted nothing more than to keep embracing her, but instead, he just smiled at her as he started up his bike and then drove off. She watched him leave as everyone noticed a single tear escape from the corner of her eye.

"He'll be all right, Natasha," Steve said softly. "Soon, he'll be back. He's one of us, no matter what he says."

Tony nodded as he continued, "Steve's right. One day, the world will face an adversary again, whose force will be too much for the five of us to handle alone and he'll be here. Now, who's up for shawarma?"

The End


End file.
